Windapo, Abimbola, Olatunji, Oluwole and Umeokafor, Nnedinma ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4010-5806 (2019) Contractors’ compliance with occupational health and safety legislation in South Africa: the benefits of self-regulation. In: Manu, Patrick, Emuze, Fidelis, Saurin, Tarcisio Abreu and Bonaventura, Hadikusumo, (eds.) Construction Health and Safety in Developing Countries. CRC Press - Routledge - Taylor & Francis, Oxon and New York, pp. 1-14. ISBN 978-0429455377; 978-1138317079 (doi:10.1201/9780429455377)

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Abstract

Occupational health and safety [OHS] laws are not always ahead of their times in developing countries. Thus, compliance with OHS laws could be pedantic but superficial to contractors. In addition to meeting legislative requirements, evidence suggests South African contractors also self-regulate, and this further impact their health and safety performance beyond the remit of legislative guidelines. However, what do a commitment to self-regulation and the transition between self-regulation and compliance with OHS regulations entail in a typical construction company in South Africa? The study examines the various levels of self-regulation and compliance to OHS legislative requirements in South Africa, and how these impacts the number of accidents on construction sites. This chapter seeks to answer this question and research objective using a 20-item scale to develop a conceptual framework that helps to explain the relationship between contractors' commitment to work safety culture, self-regulation and Accident Frequency Rates [AFR]. The study found that there is a high level of self-regulation ranging from 65% to 97%, and an average AFR of 1.02 accidents per 100,000 hours in South Africa. It also emerged that there is a significant linear negative relationship between the level of contractor self-regulation and AFR. The study concludes that the more contractors self-regulate, the lower is their AFR. It is recommended that public and private sector clients encourage the use of voluntary self-regulation towards strengthening contracting organisations’ ability to prevent accidents on construction sites.

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	regulation; safety; standards; compliance
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD61 Risk Management T Technology > TH Building construction
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > School of Engineering (ENG)
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	20 Oct 2022 12:20
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/37807

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