Developers’ Influence in Health and Safety Committees: A Missing Link on Construction Sites in Kenya

Abstract

The Occupational Safety And Health Act (OSHA, 2007), was enacted to provide for the safety, health and welfare of all persons lawfully present at work places in Kenya. The Act makes provisions for the contractor to establish health and safety committees (HSCs) whose membership is drawn from the contractor’s top management representatives and the employees engaged in the workplaces. The main role of the HSCs is to review the working conditions with a view of identifying inherent risks in the processes and advise the management of probable mitigation measures. Despite the establishment of the HSCs, accidents continue to be reported on small and medium size (SME) construction sites in Kenya, suggesting that the HSCs approach could be ineffective. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish an effective strategy for the enhancement of HSCs’ performance in construction sites in Kenya. A sample of 153 sites were selected using simple random sampling. A response rate of 82% was achieved. Data were collected via self-administered questionnaires. The findings indicate that the level of performance of HSCs registered a paltry 42% against the expected 100%. Further, 100% of the respondents recommended inclusion of developers in the HSCs as the best approach towards enhanced compliance with OSHA 2007. The most significant developer-related factors were identified as selection of contractors with good record towards health and safety (mean=4.12) and sensitization of stakeholders on best workplace health and safety practices (mean=4.08). The study revealed a significant strong positive relationship (0.639) between the performance of HSCs and the developer-related factors. The study concluded that the developers’ influence in the HSCs is indeed a missing link in OSHA 2007 compliance. It recommends amendment of the OSHA 2007 to onboard developers in HSCs to enhance their effective performance on the SME construction sites in Kenya.