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    Improving safety performance of Ghanaian building Contractors
    (2014-10-30) Amartey, Amarh Christian
    The Construction industry plays a major role in any economy and its activities are also vital to the achievement of the socio-economic development goals of providing shelter, infrastructure and employment. However, the construction industry is also recognised as an accident prone industry in Ghana. The interest in safety awareness among construction companies has greatly increased in the past decade. The ever-increasing cost of medical treatment and the potential for lawsuits can lead to higher insurance premiums, which in turn tend to have a negative impact on a company's profit. Safety in construction sites is a major concern in Ghana, however little research has been conducted into the subject. The study is aimed at improving safety performance of Ghanaian class D1K1 contractors. Sixty three factors affecting safety performance of large construction firms were identified from international literature and grouped into twelve major categories. A questionnaire survey was conducted on class D1K1 Ghanaian Construction firms in Accra and the collected data was analysed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to obtain the importance index and thus rank the safety performance factors. It was concluded that the most important factors affecting the safety performance of Ghanaian class D1K1 contractors in order of hierarchy are Administrative and management commitment towards safety, giving staff and site workers safety education and training, the role of Government and other Engineering societies and finally conduction of regular safety inspections by the site safety officer. The recommendations made were that, all top managers down to the line of supervisors must prioritize the safety of workers the same way they prioritize work quality and productivity and also the Government should enforce laws governing health and safety, employment, and rights of site workers and should also put punitive measures in place to deter Contractors from violating safety regulations