American Journal of Construction and Building Materials

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Common Construction Site Hazards in Nairobi County, Kenya

Received: May 23, 2017    Accepted: May 31, 2017    Published: Jul. 20, 2017
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Abstract

This study included collection of field data using questionnaires and analysis of secondary data from Kenya’s Directorate of occupational safety and Health (DOSH) covering the period between 2010 and 2014. Perhaps due to inadequate training in safety and lack of experience, 74% of the workers who were injured or killed when accidents occurred in construction sites were below 40years old. Some 26% of the accidents occurred during the busiest months of the year, June and July, a period which coincides with the closure of financial year. Also, about a third of construction site accidents occur during the busiest hours of the day (10-11 am, and 3-4 pm). Falling from height and being hit by falling objects contributes towards about 64% of all construction site accidents. The majority of construction companies in Nairobi allocate less than 1% of project budget to health and safety. This could be because most companies do not have a clear accident prevention policy. Five administrative factors rated on a scaled of 0-5, were thought to contribute to accidents: (1) reluctance to provide resources for safety (4.10 ± 0.2); (2) lack of staff training (4.07 ± 0.2); (3) safety regulations not enforced (3.98 ± 0.2); (4) workers not safety conscious (3.83 ± 0.2); and (5) top leaders not being safety aware (3.71 ± 0.2). It is recommended that investment in Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) and also in health and safety training should be prioritized in construction industry. DOSH should be empowered to provide customized safety training, workshops and seminars to enable construction workers minimize accident occurrence.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajcbm.20170101.14
Published in American Journal of Construction and Building Materials ( Volume 1, Issue 1, December 2017 )
Page(s) 26-33
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), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Safety, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), Construction Sites, In Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Kemei Raymond, James Wambua Kaluli, Charles Kabubo. (2017). Common Construction Site Hazards in Nairobi County, Kenya. American Journal of Construction and Building Materials, 1(1), 26-33. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcbm.20170101.14

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    ACS Style

    Kemei Raymond; James Wambua Kaluli; Charles Kabubo. Common Construction Site Hazards in Nairobi County, Kenya. Am. J. Constr. Build. Mater. 2017, 1(1), 26-33. doi: 10.11648/j.ajcbm.20170101.14

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    AMA Style

    Kemei Raymond, James Wambua Kaluli, Charles Kabubo. Common Construction Site Hazards in Nairobi County, Kenya. Am J Constr Build Mater. 2017;1(1):26-33. doi: 10.11648/j.ajcbm.20170101.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajcbm.20170101.14,
      author = {Kemei Raymond and James Wambua Kaluli and Charles Kabubo},
      title = {Common Construction Site Hazards in Nairobi County, Kenya},
      journal = {American Journal of Construction and Building Materials},
      volume = {1},
      number = {1},
      pages = {26-33},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajcbm.20170101.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcbm.20170101.14},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajcbm.20170101.14},
      abstract = {This study included collection of field data using questionnaires and analysis of secondary data from Kenya’s Directorate of occupational safety and Health (DOSH) covering the period between 2010 and 2014. Perhaps due to inadequate training in safety and lack of experience, 74% of the workers who were injured or killed when accidents occurred in construction sites were below 40years old. Some 26% of the accidents occurred during the busiest months of the year, June and July, a period which coincides with the closure of financial year. Also, about a third of construction site accidents occur during the busiest hours of the day (10-11 am, and 3-4 pm). Falling from height and being hit by falling objects contributes towards about 64% of all construction site accidents. The majority of construction companies in Nairobi allocate less than 1% of project budget to health and safety. This could be because most companies do not have a clear accident prevention policy. Five administrative factors rated on a scaled of 0-5, were thought to contribute to accidents: (1) reluctance to provide resources for safety (4.10 ± 0.2); (2) lack of staff training (4.07 ± 0.2); (3) safety regulations not enforced (3.98 ± 0.2); (4) workers not safety conscious (3.83 ± 0.2); and (5) top leaders not being safety aware (3.71 ± 0.2). It is recommended that investment in Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) and also in health and safety training should be prioritized in construction industry. DOSH should be empowered to provide customized safety training, workshops and seminars to enable construction workers minimize accident occurrence.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
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    AU  - Kemei Raymond
    AU  - James Wambua Kaluli
    AU  - Charles Kabubo
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    AB  - This study included collection of field data using questionnaires and analysis of secondary data from Kenya’s Directorate of occupational safety and Health (DOSH) covering the period between 2010 and 2014. Perhaps due to inadequate training in safety and lack of experience, 74% of the workers who were injured or killed when accidents occurred in construction sites were below 40years old. Some 26% of the accidents occurred during the busiest months of the year, June and July, a period which coincides with the closure of financial year. Also, about a third of construction site accidents occur during the busiest hours of the day (10-11 am, and 3-4 pm). Falling from height and being hit by falling objects contributes towards about 64% of all construction site accidents. The majority of construction companies in Nairobi allocate less than 1% of project budget to health and safety. This could be because most companies do not have a clear accident prevention policy. Five administrative factors rated on a scaled of 0-5, were thought to contribute to accidents: (1) reluctance to provide resources for safety (4.10 ± 0.2); (2) lack of staff training (4.07 ± 0.2); (3) safety regulations not enforced (3.98 ± 0.2); (4) workers not safety conscious (3.83 ± 0.2); and (5) top leaders not being safety aware (3.71 ± 0.2). It is recommended that investment in Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) and also in health and safety training should be prioritized in construction industry. DOSH should be empowered to provide customized safety training, workshops and seminars to enable construction workers minimize accident occurrence.
    VL  - 1
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Kenya Army Corps of Engineers, Kenya Defense Forces, Nairobi, Kenya

  • School of Biosystems and Environmental Engineering, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Sustainable Materials Research and Technology Centre, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya

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