5.1 Background Information

In this discussion of findings, only forty participants responded out of the possible eighty. Most of them were the site managers with a percentage of 17.5 while the health and safety managers took 15%. On the same line, only 25% comprised of supervisors and skilled tradesmen in equal halves. More so, construction managers and unskilled tradesmen were 10% each. All this is in line with cf. ONS (2011) in that the construction industry comprises of different professionals and workforce. Most of the workers (77.5%; n=31) on construction sites were from the large companies while 15% of them came from medium companies. However, 7.5% were from small companies. Out of them, only 65% had an experience of more than five years while 25% and 10% had an experience of 2-5 years and less than one year respectively.

More so, 50% of the participants weren’t members of the professional bodies. Only the 45% are members. Although most of the UK professionals are members of their respective professional bodies, there is a good number who should join them (cf. ONS 2011). That is different from the situation of the Graham and BAM construction sites. Similarly, 35% had attained BTEC qualifications while 27.5% (11) were graduates with a master’s degree. Only 22.5% of the participants were undergraduates, and 7.5% were A-Level graduates. The remaining 5% and 2.5% had had vocational training and GCSE/O LEVELS/CSE respectively.

5.2 Health and Safety

Participants had different opinions when it came to the health and safety system in the UK construction industry. It is promising to find out that the majority (47.5%) considered the system to be very good and 25% found it to be excellent. 22% found it to be good. On the contrary, 5% of the participants regarded the system to be very poor and fair in equal proportions. Depending on how the performance is, then ISO can certify the companies. According to ISO (2009), most of the companies in the construction industry are trying to better their health and safety systems. On the other angle, 97.5% of the workers had received health and safety awareness training in the last five years while 2.5% hadn’t. Huang and Hinze, (2003) noted that training is very important in the implementation of accident prevention strategies.

About 97.5% of the workers were in agreement that their companies had a policy on safety, health, and environmental management. Grozalez-Benito and Grozalez-Benito (2005) ascertained that companies that want to move forward towards sustainability should have the EMS as the first step. With this percentage at hand, it means that most of the companies are looking forward to that. The situation is promising since all the participant’s companies have health and safety committee and Environmental Management Systems.

On the other hand, 92.5% of the participants were in agreement that there was an improvement in health and safety in regard to the UK construction industry. That is in line with the ISO (2009), which ascertained that most companies in the UK construction industry had improved in the recent years. That explains as to why the industry has seen a lot of ISO Certification in the recent past. In regard to areas that need improvement in health and safety, 40% cited the areas of safety communication while 27.5% targeted the training area. Increased communication results in a decrease in the number of accidents on worksites (Zohar, 2002). Toole (2002) found that the cause of all accidents in the construction industry is because workers receive less training to recognize health hazards. On the same line, 10% said that management and commitment should have an improvement, and 12.5% were for health and safety policy. Hence and Thye, (2006) ascertained that companies should focus on commitment in regard health and safety.

that it enhanced moral responsibility while and an equal proportion were that health and safety help in the prevention of serious injuries. All these are in line with Zohar’s (2002) findings, which ascertained that health and safety are very important as they lead to a reduction of accidents. That means that they promote the lives of people and saves costs that could otherwise go to treating the injured. In short, development increases when there is an increase in health and safety.

responsibilityGrozalez-Benito and Grozalez-Benito (2005), which explained that health and safety have a positive impact in many ways. On of the areas, in addition to what the participants cited is the sustainability and improvement of the environment.

It was promising to see that all the participants were in agreement that each of their companies had safety regulations in reducing accidents. 95% of them said that the companies were ISO Certified because of having the regulations. All of them also agreed that their companies had Health and Safety Management systems in place. Horbury and Hope (1999) found that there have been regulations to promote health and safety in the UK construction industry. The regulations address the outcomes of failing to uphold health and safety. The regulations were made to provide control of activities in Health and Safety (Horbury and Hope, 1999). Regulations also help in reducing accidents in the field of construction (Dababneh, 2001). That is what most of the [participants agreed with although 7.5% were neutral.

ISO Certification is important in the construction industry. However, only 60% of the participants were aware that their companies were certified, although 5% of them failed to respond. The rest were unaware. They are only 1,035 certificates that belong to the construction industry out of the 22, 897 ISO14001 certified companies around the world (ISO 2000). In obtaining the certificate, the company is capable of improving its environmental performance (Myers 2005). Ball (2002) established that the UK accounts for 20% of all the certification, which puts it among the top five countries in gaining the ISO14001 certification.

while 22.5% blamed lack of safety training. However, lack of safety policy was one of the reasons that 10% of the participants gave. The remaining proportion said that other reasons were in place to explain the cause of accidents in the industry. From the literature, safety motivation is key in preventing accidents in the industry. Evelyn (2005 Lastly, when accidents occur, everybody should take responsibility.