Improving Safety Performance of Ghanaian Building Contractors

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 study is aimed at improving safety performance of Ghanaian contractors. A survey was conducted and data was analysed using (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 contractors in order of hierarchy are: administrative and management commitment towards safety, giving staff and site workers safety education and training and finally the role of Government and other Engineering societies. The following recommendations were made: all top managers down to the line of supervisors must prioritize the safety of workers with same measure they prioritize work quality and productivity. Also, the Government should enforce laws governing health and safety, employment, and rights of site workers.