Approaches to Improve the Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry of Windhoek, Namibia

Nghitanwa Emma Maano

doi:doi:10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14

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Approaches to Improve the Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry of Windhoek, Namibia

Nghitanwa Emma Maano

Published in Central African Journal of Public Health (Volume 5, Issue 6)

Received: 11 March 2019 Accepted: 12 April 2019 Published: 15 October 2019

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Abstract

Globally, the construction industry is regarded as a very dangerous industry due to the labour-intensive nature of the work resulting into a high rate of occupational accidents, injuries, diseases and fatalities. In Namibia, the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) status of workers in construction industries remains a challenge primarily due to the dearth of studies that investigate the health and safety of workers. The objectives of this study were to investigate the status of occupational health and safety in the construction industry in Windhoek, Namibia, with a view to recommend interventions that would improve occupational health and safety of workers in the targeted sector. A quantitative, descriptive study design was conducted among 549 participants from 13 construction sites that were operating at the time of conducting the study. Data were collected by means of an interviewer led questionnaire. SPSS version 23 was used to analyse data. The study identified a number of different approaches to be provided on construction industry for OHS improvement such as OHS programme implementation, training of workers on OHS aspects, provision of medical services to construction workers, adequate provision of welfare facilities, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) provision. The study has proven that there is a need to improve the OHS in the construction industry to prevent occupational accidents, injuries, fatalities and diseases. The practical guidelines were developed which could be useful if implemented in construction sites to improve the OHS in the construction industry.

Published in	Central African Journal of Public Health (Volume 5, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14
Page(s)	252-255
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Construction, Industry, Improvement, Occupational Health, Occupational Safety

References

[1]	Pesantes-Tavares, E. 2011. Construction worker health : A web-based approach to selecting alternatives to hazardous procedures. Doctoral thesis. University of Florida.
[2]	Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare of Namibia. 2014. Annual report for 2013/2014. Windhoek. Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.
[3]	Nghitanwa, EM & Zungu LI. 2017. Occupational accidents and injuries among workers in the construction industry of Windhoek, Namibia. International Journal of Health. 5 (1) 55-59.
[4]	Lee, WH. 2010. Relationship between safety climate and occupation accident in Hong Kong construction industry. Msc dissertation. Hong Kong Baptist University. Hong Kong.
[5]	Government of Namibia. 1997. Regulations relating to the health and safety of employees at work. Regulation R. 156, in terms of the Labour Act, 1992 (Act no. 6, 1992, as amended). Windhoek. Government Printer.
[6]	Smallwood, J & Ajani, O. 2009. The impact of training on construction ergonomics knowledge and awareness. Ergonomics South Africa 21 (1): 23–38. From: http://www.ajol.info/index.php/esa/article/view/124303
[7]	Ngamthampunpol, D. 2008. An assessment of Safety Management in the Thai construction industry. Doctoral Dissertation. George Washington University, United States. From: http://gradworks.umi.com/32/97/3297451.html.
[8]	Hallowell, MR. 2008. A formal model for construction safety and health risk management. Doctoral thesis. Oregon State University: Oregon. From: http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/handle/1957/8541 (accessed 04 March 2014).
[9]	Bahn, S. & Barratt-pugh, L., 2012. Evaluation of the mandatory construction induction training program in Western Australia : Unanticipated consequences. Evaluation and Program Planning, 35 (3), pp. 337–343.
[10]	Taylor, EL. 2015. Safety benefits of mandatory OSHA 10h training. Safety Science. 77: 66-71.
[11]	International Labour Organization. 2001. Guidelines on occupational safety and health management systems ILO-OSH 2001. International Labour Organization. Geneva.
[12]	Fan, S., Wong, Y., Shen, L., Lu, Wu., Wang, T., Yu, A., Shen, Q., 2012. The effectiveness of Dust Bubbles on dust control in the process of concrete drilling. Safety Science, 50 (5), pp. 1284–1289.

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Nghitanwa Emma Maano. (2019). Approaches to Improve the Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry of Windhoek, Namibia. Central African Journal of Public Health, 5(6), 252-255. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14

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ACS Style

Nghitanwa Emma Maano. Approaches to Improve the Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry of Windhoek, Namibia. Cent. Afr. J. Public Health 2019, 5(6), 252-255. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14

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AMA Style

Nghitanwa Emma Maano. Approaches to Improve the Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry of Windhoek, Namibia. Cent Afr J Public Health. 2019;5(6):252-255. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14

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@article{10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14,
  author = {Nghitanwa Emma Maano},
  title = {Approaches to Improve the Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry of Windhoek, Namibia},
  journal = {Central African Journal of Public Health},
  volume = {5},
  number = {6},
  pages = {252-255},
  doi = {10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cajph.20190506.14},
  abstract = {Globally, the construction industry is regarded as a very dangerous industry due to the labour-intensive nature of the work resulting into a high rate of occupational accidents, injuries, diseases and fatalities. In Namibia, the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) status of workers in construction industries remains a challenge primarily due to the dearth of studies that investigate the health and safety of workers. The objectives of this study were to investigate the status of occupational health and safety in the construction industry in Windhoek, Namibia, with a view to recommend interventions that would improve occupational health and safety of workers in the targeted sector. A quantitative, descriptive study design was conducted among 549 participants from 13 construction sites that were operating at the time of conducting the study. Data were collected by means of an interviewer led questionnaire. SPSS version 23 was used to analyse data. The study identified a number of different approaches to be provided on construction industry for OHS improvement such as OHS programme implementation, training of workers on OHS aspects, provision of medical services to construction workers, adequate provision of welfare facilities, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) provision. The study has proven that there is a need to improve the OHS in the construction industry to prevent occupational accidents, injuries, fatalities and diseases. The practical guidelines were developed which could be useful if implemented in construction sites to improve the OHS in the construction industry.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Approaches to Improve the Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry of Windhoek, Namibia
AU  - Nghitanwa Emma Maano
Y1  - 2019/10/15
PY  - 2019
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DO  - 10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14
T2  - Central African Journal of Public Health
JF  - Central African Journal of Public Health
JO  - Central African Journal of Public Health
SP  - 252
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-5781
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14
AB  - Globally, the construction industry is regarded as a very dangerous industry due to the labour-intensive nature of the work resulting into a high rate of occupational accidents, injuries, diseases and fatalities. In Namibia, the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) status of workers in construction industries remains a challenge primarily due to the dearth of studies that investigate the health and safety of workers. The objectives of this study were to investigate the status of occupational health and safety in the construction industry in Windhoek, Namibia, with a view to recommend interventions that would improve occupational health and safety of workers in the targeted sector. A quantitative, descriptive study design was conducted among 549 participants from 13 construction sites that were operating at the time of conducting the study. Data were collected by means of an interviewer led questionnaire. SPSS version 23 was used to analyse data. The study identified a number of different approaches to be provided on construction industry for OHS improvement such as OHS programme implementation, training of workers on OHS aspects, provision of medical services to construction workers, adequate provision of welfare facilities, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) provision. The study has proven that there is a need to improve the OHS in the construction industry to prevent occupational accidents, injuries, fatalities and diseases. The practical guidelines were developed which could be useful if implemented in construction sites to improve the OHS in the construction industry.
VL  - 5
IS  - 6
ER  -

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Author Information

Nghitanwa Emma Maano

Department of Midwifery Science, School of Nursing, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia

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APA Style

Nghitanwa Emma Maano. (2019). Approaches to Improve the Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry of Windhoek, Namibia. Central African Journal of Public Health, 5(6), 252-255. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14

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ACS Style

Nghitanwa Emma Maano. Approaches to Improve the Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry of Windhoek, Namibia. Cent. Afr. J. Public Health 2019, 5(6), 252-255. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14

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AMA Style

Nghitanwa Emma Maano. Approaches to Improve the Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry of Windhoek, Namibia. Cent Afr J Public Health. 2019;5(6):252-255. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14

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@article{10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14,
  author = {Nghitanwa Emma Maano},
  title = {Approaches to Improve the Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry of Windhoek, Namibia},
  journal = {Central African Journal of Public Health},
  volume = {5},
  number = {6},
  pages = {252-255},
  doi = {10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cajph.20190506.14},
  abstract = {Globally, the construction industry is regarded as a very dangerous industry due to the labour-intensive nature of the work resulting into a high rate of occupational accidents, injuries, diseases and fatalities. In Namibia, the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) status of workers in construction industries remains a challenge primarily due to the dearth of studies that investigate the health and safety of workers. The objectives of this study were to investigate the status of occupational health and safety in the construction industry in Windhoek, Namibia, with a view to recommend interventions that would improve occupational health and safety of workers in the targeted sector. A quantitative, descriptive study design was conducted among 549 participants from 13 construction sites that were operating at the time of conducting the study. Data were collected by means of an interviewer led questionnaire. SPSS version 23 was used to analyse data. The study identified a number of different approaches to be provided on construction industry for OHS improvement such as OHS programme implementation, training of workers on OHS aspects, provision of medical services to construction workers, adequate provision of welfare facilities, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) provision. The study has proven that there is a need to improve the OHS in the construction industry to prevent occupational accidents, injuries, fatalities and diseases. The practical guidelines were developed which could be useful if implemented in construction sites to improve the OHS in the construction industry.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Approaches to Improve the Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry of Windhoek, Namibia
AU  - Nghitanwa Emma Maano
Y1  - 2019/10/15
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14
T2  - Central African Journal of Public Health
JF  - Central African Journal of Public Health
JO  - Central African Journal of Public Health
SP  - 252
EP  - 255
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-5781
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20190506.14
AB  - Globally, the construction industry is regarded as a very dangerous industry due to the labour-intensive nature of the work resulting into a high rate of occupational accidents, injuries, diseases and fatalities. In Namibia, the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) status of workers in construction industries remains a challenge primarily due to the dearth of studies that investigate the health and safety of workers. The objectives of this study were to investigate the status of occupational health and safety in the construction industry in Windhoek, Namibia, with a view to recommend interventions that would improve occupational health and safety of workers in the targeted sector. A quantitative, descriptive study design was conducted among 549 participants from 13 construction sites that were operating at the time of conducting the study. Data were collected by means of an interviewer led questionnaire. SPSS version 23 was used to analyse data. The study identified a number of different approaches to be provided on construction industry for OHS improvement such as OHS programme implementation, training of workers on OHS aspects, provision of medical services to construction workers, adequate provision of welfare facilities, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) provision. The study has proven that there is a need to improve the OHS in the construction industry to prevent occupational accidents, injuries, fatalities and diseases. The practical guidelines were developed which could be useful if implemented in construction sites to improve the OHS in the construction industry.
VL  - 5
IS  - 6
ER  -

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