article · Safety
High rates of injuries, risks, and fatalities persist in the South African construction industry despite ongoing efforts to enhance occupational health and safety. While formal management systems help decrease on-site accidents, businesses encounter numerous obstacles during execution. Using survey data gathered from construction professionals in the Western Cape, this study investigated the primary internal and external influences on safety system implementation. Internal priorities include risk control strategies, senior management commitment, and clear communication channels. Critical external factors comprise client delivery pressures, corporate reputation, official safety enforcement, and state legislation. Integrating these variables through the Plan Do Check Act cycle, the study provides a practical framework intended to guide construction organisations in successfully deploying and maintaining occupational health and safety systems.
Construction sites remain hazardous environments where accidents and fatalities regularly occur. By clarifying the exact organisational and regulatory pressures that hinder safety procedures, this work helps construction managers establish structured practices. Adopting systematic management cycles allows firms to protect workers more effectively while balancing delivery deadlines and regulatory requirements.
The primary output is an implementation framework based on the Plan Do Check Act approach, designed directly for adoption by construction firms and project managers to streamline safety operations. Because it was formulated from industry survey findings rather than being an operationalised commercial software tool or service, it represents an applied management framework ready for organisational uptake rather than a market-ready commercial product.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Although notable efforts have been made in the past to improve Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), the overall performance has not significantly improved as high-level injuries, risks, and fatalities continue to occur. Earlier studies have shown that implementing an Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) ensures a reduction in accidents on site, which is, however, not easy due to the many challenges arising during its implementation. The research objectives were to identify, in order of importance, factors that affect the implementation of an OHSMS on construction sites and to analyse how an OHSMS can be implemented in the construction industry of the Western Cape, South Africa, using the Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) method. The research questionnaire obtained online opinions from construction professionals. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 27.0. The data were interpreted through Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, frequencies, descriptive statistics, and a multi-regression analysis. A multi-regression test was conducted to determine the relationship between internal and external factors and the implementation of an OHSMS, including the use of the PDCA method. The findings reveal that both internal and external factors affected the implementation of the OHSMS. The most important internal factors were risk control strategies, senior management commitment, and support and communication channels. The most common external factors were pressure from clients on project delivery, company reputation, OHS enforcement, and government legislation. A framework was developed to outline how an OHSMS can be implemented using the PDCA approach based on the findings from this study. The framework can be adopted by the construction industry to improve effectiveness when implementing their OHSMS.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.3390/safety10010005
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
