Impact of Health and Safety Management on Safety Performance of Small and Medium-Sized Construction Firms in Abuja

• Habibat O. YUSUFU

  Author

• Yakubu D. MOHAMMED

  Author

• Rose JONATHAN

  Author

• Shamsuddeen SULAIMAN

  Author

The construction industry is one of the most hazardous sectors, with frequent accidents, injuries, and fatalities resulting from unsafe practices and inadequate health and safety management (HSM). This has led to negative impacts such as project delays, increased costs, reduced productivity, and reputational damage. In order to address this problem, this study assessed the health and safety management practices adopted by small and medium-sized construction firms (construction SMEs) in Abuja with a view to improving safety standards in SMEs. Data collection was undertaken using structured questionnaires administered to 120 construction professionals across various disciplines. Analysis of data was conducted using Mean Item Score (MIS), Relative Importance Index (RII), and Spearman Rank (rho) correlation. Findings from the analysis revealed that the most important HSM adopted by SMEs are “health and safety (H&S) policy” (MIS = 4.68); “H&S culture” (MIS = 4.65); and “H&S education” (MIS = 4.60). The least ranked practices were “Organisation records” (MIS = 3.67) and “Employee involvement/influence” (MIS = 3.62). The RII results revealed that reduction in workplace accidents and injuries margin (RII = 0.84), improved safety culture (RII = 0.81), and enhanced compliance with regulatory standards (RII = 0.79) were the key practices that most significantly impact project performance. Conversely, lower compensation insurance (RII = 0.59), reduced absenteeism (RII = 0.61), and increased client satisfaction (RII = 0.63) were ranked lowest but were still statistically significant, as their p-values were less than 0.05.  The study concludes that HSM practices have a significant effect on the performance of small and medium-sized construction projects in Abuja. It was therefore recommended that construction stakeholders should strengthen safety policies and culture, enhance worker involvement, promote government support for training, and enforce regulatory compliance in order to achieve safer and more efficient construction project delivery.

• FJET_21_85_85

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