SUPPLIERS & CONTRACTORS HEALTH & SAFETY FEATURE
Health and Safety:
South African Construction Industry This article is based on a keynote address ’Overview of the South African Construction Industry’, delivered to the Construction Industry Development Board (cidb) inaugural annual seminar ‘The State of the South African Construction Industry’, Irene, Gauteng, 21 October 2021. Professor John Smallwood, Professor of Construction Management, Nelson Mandela University Research method
Findings
The respondents to the study included 150 ‘industry stakeholders’, among other, ‘industry leaders’, and heads of industry associations and councils, and 342 ‘targeted stakeholders’, which constituted a broad representation of the industry in terms of stakeholder group. The consolidated response rate of 22.2% is primarily attributable to the ‘targeted stakeholders’. Furthermore, 61 (59.8%) of the 102 responses were included in the analysis of the data due to time constraints and data capture capacity challenges.
The nine H&S-related aspects / parameters are: H&S on projects (3.30; 3rd); environmental management on projects (3.04; 17th); respect for people (within the industry) (2.90; 26th); corporate social responsibility (2.87; 27th), primary health promotion (2.68; 47th); welfare facilities on projects (2.53; 60th); mental health (2.38; 66th); employee assistance programmes (substance abuse) (2.22; 72nd), and work-life balance (2.19; 73rd).
The author, having been involved with several ‘status of the construction industry’ research studies, opted for an empirical study, the objectives being to determine, among other, the rating of the South African construction industry relative to 76 aspects / parameters, and the top ten challenges in terms of improving the performance, growth, and development of the South African construction industry.
The 61 respondents represented 33 occupations and 21 stakeholder groups. 13.3% had a BTech, 23.3% a B / BSc (Hons) / 4-Year degree, 23.3% a M / MSc, and 6.7% a PhD – 66.6% of respondents had a 4-year qualification or more. Their mean age was 50.6 years, and their mean experience in construction was 23.9 years. 16.4% were females, and 83.6% were male. Respondents represented 8 metropolitan areas, Johannesburg (32.8%) predominating, followed by Cape Town (19.7%), and Port Elizabeth (16.4%).
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Respondents were required to rate the South African construction industry relative to 76 aspects / parameters in terms of a five-point Likert type scale ‘very poor’ to ‘very good’. An ‘unsure’ option was presented as there was a likelihood that not all respondents would have an intimate understanding of all 76 aspects / parameters. The H&S-related findings have been summarised below in the form of a mean score (MS) between 1.00 and 5.00, based upon a weighting of the percentage responses to the scale, and the rank. In general, MSs > 3.00 indicate the rating is above average, as opposed to below average in the case of MSs ≤ 3.00. Furthermore, in terms of ranges, MSs > 2.60 ≤ 3.40 indicate the rating is between poor to average / average, and MSs > 1.80 ≤ 2.60 indicate the rating is between very poor to poor / poor.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The construction industry in South Africa is not rated highly in terms of the nine H&Srelated aspects / parameters. Given the current high profile afforded to mental health, and work-life balance in the construction industries of many developed countries, the related South African ratings amplify the need for attention. This need is reinforced by the experience of fatigue and stress among construction workers, supervisors, and managers. This manifests, from compressed project schedules, which result in extended working hours per day, and working days per week. These ratings present a clear agenda for action, and in turn amplify the need for people to become the focus of construction, in addition to producing a conforming product. Summarising, the respect for people (within the industry), and corporate social responsibility ratings amplify the importance of addressing H&S at the industry and organisational level i.e., H&S is a strategic, not just an operational issue.
