Safety management issues in construction industry of Bangladesh

Abstract

The construction industry undoubtedly plays a significant role in the economic development of a country. However, statistics have proven this field to be highly hazardous. Construction workers are backbone of this industry as this sector is less mechanized and more labor intensive. Thus, ensuring workers safety becomes a major consideration. However, little research has taken place in this field and demands extensive study to realize its importance at national level to keep on track with the international standard. This paper aimed to examine the status of safety management in the construction sites in Bangladesh, particularly focussing on Dhaka, the capital city. An attempt was taken to identify the root causes of accidents, explore the risk-prone activities, and locate the factors affecting construction site safety. The study involves two phases. Firstly, fatality data were collected from the Police authorities (Dhaka Metropolitan Police) and OSHE (Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation) to analyze and categorize the accidents occurring in this sector. From data analysis, it was found that falling from heights and electrocution were the two prime reasons for fatalities, together accounting for 71% of the total fatality count. But taking some basic safety measures could have eliminated these casualties. Secondly, thorough field survey was conducted to examine and infer on the issues of welfare facilities, safety equipments and other factors affecting construction safety along with their relative importance. For this, people associated in this industry i.e. the workers and employers’ personals were interviewed and subsequent mathematical analysis was done using rigorous statistical tools on the basis of their responses. Analysis was carried out using Chi-square and Ranking by Importance Index method. The Chi-square was used to infer whether significant differences exist in responses from the respondents, while the Ranking by Importance Index helped in establishing their significant relative importance. The Chi-square test proved that both parties (i.e. workers and employers) agree that the safety and welfare facilities are not provided upto the standard whereas the Ranking by Importance Index identified some key factors governing the safety of the workers on a priority basis.