Assessing the safety use of tower cranes on construction sites in central region of Ghana

Abstract

Safe use of plants, equipment and moving machineries on construction sites are complex and delicate and these are determined by the immense number of brands and types of moving equipment options. Continuously Ghanaian operators get injured and even killed in plant associated accident in the construction industry. This is due to lack of occupational health and safety education to both the employer and their operatives. The construction industry is faced with problems of cost reduction, as accidents add to the cost of the construction, thereby reducing profit margins. The aim of this study is to investigate the safe use of plants on construction site. The objectives are to identify the causes of plant accidents on construction sites and to determine the level of enforcement of safety laws and rules. The study was conducted on finding out the problems associated with the safety of operators on construction sites in some selected sites in Central Region of Ghana. Convenient sampling technique method was used to select three DlKl construction companies and fifteen (15) operatives and three health and safety officers were selected. The research instrument that was used includes questionnaires, personal interviews and observations. The data was analyzed using the descriptive statistics that comprises mean and tables. The findings revealed that respondents with a mean score of 3.5 confirmed that competent persons are used to carry out the erection, dismantling and height alternation of tower cranes. However inadequate training and fatigue of operators are one of the main reasons causing unsafe practices of tower crane operations.