A Framework for Enhancing the Performance of Health and Safety Committees on Small and Medium Size Construction Sites in Kenya

Abstract

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 2007 (OSHA 2007) was enacted to provide for the safety, health, and welfare of all persons present at workplaces. The Act makes provisions for the occupier to establish health and safety committees (HSCs) at their work places in a bipartite arrangement whose membership is drawn from the occupier’s (contractor) top management representative 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 on probable mitigation measures to undertake to eliminate them before maturing to accidents that lead to loss of property or even death. This makes the HSCs the most crucial instrument in ensuring compliance with OSHA 2007. The effectiveness of the HSCs currently relies on the level of contractor commitment and employees’ involvement in those committees. The premise of the study was that despite the enactment of OSHA 2007, the construction industry in Kenya has continued to exhibit poor health and safety as exemplified by the continued accidents and incidents particularly in the small and medium size enterprise (SME) construction sites suggesting that the HSCs in these sites are not effective. This study therefore aimed at developing a framework towards enhanced performance of HSCs on the SME construction sites in Nairobi. The specific objectives of the study were: to establish the level of performance of HSCs, to determine the contractor commitment, employees’, and developer involvement in HSCs, to explore the relationship between the level of contractor commitment, employees’ and developer involvement against the performance of HSCs and to formulate a framework towards enhanced performance of HSCs on the SME construction sites in Nairobi. The study was underpinned by three theories namely synergy, stakeholder and systems theories. The research design adopted for this study was a survey and data were collected using self-administered questionnaires from a sample size of 153 SME construction sites in Nairobi selected using stratified random sampling. The respondents comprised of developers, contractors, and employees on the construction sites. A response rate of 82% was obtained and deemed adequate for the study. Quantitative data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 25. The study used 24 parameters to measure the level of OSHA 2007 compliance. The study found the level of compliance with the OSHA 2007 on construction sites to be at 62%. Of the 24 parameters measured, HSC performance was the second least compliant ranked at 23. This finding affirmed the assumption that HSCs could be the major contributor to low compliance

and hence need for further interrogation. The study established the level of performance of HSCs to be at 40%. Given that the expected performance is 100%, the established performance was deemed unacceptable since HSCs are the main drivers of OSHA compliance on construction sites. The findings further established that the level of contractor commitment, employees’ and developer involvement was 64%, 54% and 56% respectively. Based on the correlational analysis, it was further established that performance of HSCs was significantly influenced by contractor commitment (0.662), employees’ involvement (0.708) and developer involvement (0.639) at 0.01 significance level. Further, multiple regression analysis revealed that higher levels of compliance were associated with higher levels of contractor commitment, employee and developer involvement in the HSCs on construction sites. Given the absence of the developer in the current composition of the HSCs, the study established an overwhelming support at 92% for statutory onboarding of developer in the functioning of HSCs on construction sites in Nairobi as the most effective method of enhancing occupational health and safety. Consequently, the study formulated a framework for onboarding of the developer branded the Tripartite Collaborative Approach Framework (TCAF). The TCAF is based on collaboration and building of synergy amongst project stakeholders (namely developer, contractor, and employee) and identifies key developer actions (KDAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) as tools for monitoring the performance of the HSCs on sites. It is proposed to replace the current bipartite approach that is ineffective and not aligned with ILO 1992 stipulations by affording a different approach which should be adopted to enhance OSH performance in SME construction sites. The study recommends adoption of the TCAF through statutory involvement of the developer in the functioning of HSCs to enhance its effectiveness. Consequently, a review of the OSHA 2007 is necessary to enable full implementation of the TCAF in accordance with the ILO guidelines. Such review of the Act should stipulate KDAs and KPIs towards the enhanced performance of HSCs.