Safety Evaluation of Building Construction Project of MES

Abstract

Construction industry is one of the most hazardous industries where workers are more prone to accidents. Research shows that the major causes of accidents are related to the nature of the industry, human behavior, work site difficult conditions, and poor safety management, which result in unsafe work environment. Like most of the construction firms in Pakistan MES also follow a responsive strategy instead of pre-emptive strategy. The statistics shows that at least 1,333 workers (including construction workers) have lost their lives or injured at their jobsites during the years 2006-2009. These accidents are the result of poor legislation and can be reduced by improving the safety performance through safety culture approach. This study is carried out to evaluate and identify the weaknesses in current safety practices of MES construction firms through case studies and suggests measures to improve it. The study is undertaken via a questionnaire based survey. Data collected from 18 construction projects located in 2 different cities of Pakistan, is analyzed using MS EXCEL. Results demonstrate that the safety performance of MES construction companies is not satisfactory. Major findings of this study include; non-existence of a regulatory authority to implement safety, more emphasis on productivity by all stakeholders, clients dislike to provide any budget for safety, contractors reluctance to invest more on safety, and workers unawareness towards their rights. The most neglected safety practices requiring special emphasis are; (a) safety responsible individuals on site, (b) safety meetings on site, (c) participation of contractors and SDOs in safety meetings, (d) no records of injuries, and (e) allocation of budget for safety in contract documents. The study recommends establishing an administrative body for occupational safety and health under the E-in-C branch which may work in collaboration with respective CMES to provide safety training and evaluate the safety performance of all registered MES construction companies periodically under their area of responsibilities. Safety credit points may be incorporated in the process of contractor’s registration, enlistment and renewal, and a record of occupational injuries and fatalities may be maintained and published annually so as to ensure safety performance practices by all registered construction companie