Health and Safety Management Systems within Construction Contractor Organizations: Case Study of South Africa
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 146, Issue 5
Abstract
The study reported in this paper investigated health and safety management systems (HSMS) found within medium to large construction contractor organizations in South Africa. The aim of the study was to identify the nuances associated with the dominant health and safety management systems within these organizations and to categorize them into types. A qualitative descriptive research methodology was adopted, and data was collected through semistructured interviews involving safety managers, health and safety (H&S) advisors at employers’ associations, and consulting firms. An analysis of the data revealed that the broad spectrum of health and safety management systems within contractor organizations in South Africa can be categorized into three distinct types. Defining features of the three HSMS types across three thematic areas were distilled. The position of the health and safety professional, legislative requirements, supply chain demands, and subcontracting practices of the organization are identified as factors that shape each HSMS type to varying degrees. The categorization and characterization outcomes of this study enables a subsequent objective evaluation of effectiveness and provide explanations for successes and failures of construction HSMS.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data used during the study are confidential in nature and may only be provided with restrictions, including the audio recording of interviews and transcripts.
References
Anaman, K. A., and C. Osei-Amponsah. 2007. “Analysis of the causality links between the growth of the construction industry and the growth of the macroeconomy in Ghana.” Constr. Manage. Econ. 25 (9): 951–961. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446190701411208.
Arocena, P., and I. Núñez. 2010. “An empirical analysis of the effectiveness of occupational health and safety management systems in SMEs.” Int. Small Bus. J. 28 (4): 398–419. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242610363521.
Bin Ibrahim, R. A., M. H. Roy, Z. Ahmed, and G. Imtiaz. 2010. “An investigation of the status of the Malaysian construction industry.” Benchmarking Int. J. 17 (2): 294–308. https://doi.org/10.1108/14635771011036357.
Bluff, L. 2003. Systematic management of occupational health and safety. Canberra, Australia: National Research Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.
Booth, R. T., and T. R. Lee. 1995. “The role of human factors and safety culture in safety management.” Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part B J. Eng. Manuf. 209 (5): 393–400. https://doi.org/10.1243/PIME_PROC_1995_209_098_02.
BSI (British Standards Institution). 2007. Occupational health and safety management systems. BS OHSAS 18001. London: BSI.
Champoux, D., and J.-P. Brun. 2003. “Occupational health and safety management in small size enterprises: An overview of the situation and avenues for intervention and research.” Saf. Sci. 41 (4): 301–318. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-7535(02)00043-7.
CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board). 2009. Construction health and safety in South Africa: Status and recommendations. Pretoria, South Africa: CIDB.
CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board). 2012. The construction industry as a vehicle for contractor development and transformation. Pretoria, South Africa: CIDB.
CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board). 2013. Subcontracting in the South African construction industry; opportunities for development. Pretoria, South Africa: CIDB.
CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board). 2015. Labour and work conditions in the South African construction industry; status and recommendations. Pretoria, South Africa: CIDB.
CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board). 2017. “Construction monitor employment Q3 2017.” Accessed March 1, 2018. http://www.cidb.org.za/publications/Documents/Construction%20Monitor%20-%20October%202017.pdf.
Costella, M. F., T. A. Saurin, and L. B. de Macedo Guimarães. 2009. “A method for assessing health and safety management systems from the resilience engineering perspective.” Saf. Sci. 47 (8): 1056–1067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2008.11.006.
Creswell, J. W. 2013. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
DeJoy, D. M. 2005. “Behavior change versus culture change: Divergent approaches to managing workplace safety.” Saf. Sci. 43 (2): 105–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2005.02.001.
Gallagher, C. 2000. Occupational health and safety management systems: System types and effectiveness. Melbourne, Australia: Deakin Univ.
Gallagher, C., E. Underhill, and M. Rimmer. 2003. “Occupational safety and health management systems in Australia: Barriers to success.” Policy Pract. Health Saf. 1 (2): 67–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/14774003.2003.11667637.
García Herrero, S., M. A. Mariscal Saldaña, M. A. Manzanedo del Campo, and D. O. Ritzel. 2002. “From the traditional concept of safety management to safety integrated with quality.” J. Saf. Res. 33 (1): 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4375(02)00008-7.
Gillen, M., S. Kools, C. McCall, J. Sum, and K. Moulden. 2004. “Construction managers’ perceptions of construction safety practices in small and large firms: A qualitative investigation.” Work 23 (3): 233–243.
Griffin, M. A., and A. Neal. 2000. “Perceptions of safety at work: A framework for linking safety climate to safety performance, knowledge, and motivation.” J. Occup. Health Psychol. 5 (3): 347–358. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.5.3.347.
Haas, E. J., and P. Yorio. 2016. “Exploring the state of health and safety management system performance measurement in mining organizations.” Saf. Sci. 83 (Mar): 48–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.11.009.
Hinze, J., S. Thurman, A. Wehle, and M. E. Rinker. 2013. “Leading indicators of construction safety performance.” Saf. Sci. 51 (1): 23–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2012.05.016.
Hsieh, H.-F., and S. E. Shannon. 2005. “Three approaches to qualitative content analysis background on the development of content analysis.” Qual. Health Res. 15 (9): 1277–1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687.
ISO. 2015a. Environmental management systems: Requirements with guidance for use. ISO 14001. Geneva: ISO.
ISO. 2015b. Quality management systems: Fundamentals and vocabulary. ISO 9000. Geneva: ISO.
ISO. 2018. Occupational health and safety management systems: Requirements with guidance for use. ISO 45001. Geneva: ISO.
Joffe, H., and L. Yardley. 2003. “Content and thematic analysis.” In Research methods for clinical and health psychology, 56–68. Los Angeles: Sage.
Kheni, N., A. Gibb, and A. Dainty. 2010. “Health and safety management within small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries: Study of contextual influences.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 136 (10): 1104–1115. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000218.
Kontogiannis, T., M. C. Leva, and N. Balfe. 2017. “Total safety management: Principles, processes and methods.” Saf. Sci. 100 (Dec): 128–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2016.09.015.
Law, W. K., A. H. S. Chan, and K. F. Pun. 2006. “Prioritising the safety management elements: A hierarchical analysis for manufacturing enterprises.” Ind. Manage. Data Syst. 106 (6): 778–792. https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570610671470.
Makin, A. M., and C. Winder. 2008. “A new conceptual framework to improve the application of occupational health and safety management systems.” Saf. Sci. 46 (6): 935–948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2007.11.011.
Makin, A.-M., and C. Winder. 2009. “Managing hazards in the workplace using organisational safety management systems: A safe place, safe person, safe systems approach.” Risk Res. 12 (3–4): 329–343. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669870802658998.
Mohamed, S. 1999. “Empirical investigation of construction safety management activities and performance in Australia.” Saf. Sci. 33 (3): 129–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-7535(99)00028-4.
Mulenga, N. C. F. 2014. Explanatory model of antecedents and outcomes of health and safety climate in the South African construction industry. Cape Town, South Africa: Univ. of Cape Town.
Naidoo, D., A. Brand, A. Harrison, B. Raghuber, and D. Botes. 2015. “SA construction.” Accessed February 19, 2018. www.pwc.co.za/construction.
Neuendorf, K. A. 2002. “Defining content analysis.” In The content analysis guidebook, edited by M. Seawell, A. Carter, C. Hoffman, M. Scott, J. LeMaster, and J. Quaney, 1–31. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Niskanen, T., K. Louhelainen, and M. L. Hirvonen. 2016. “A systems thinking approach of occupational safety and health applied in the micro-, meso- and macro-levels: A Finnish survey.” Saf. Sci. 82 (Feb): 212–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.09.012.
Pérezgonzález, J. D. 2005. Construction safety management, a systems approach. 1st ed. Dublin, Ireland: Lulu.
Potter, W. J., and D. Levine-Donnerstein. 1999. “Rethinking validity and reliability in content analysis.” J. Appl. Commun. Res. 27 (3): 258–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909889909365539.
Ray, P. S., J. L. Purswell, and D. Bowen. 1993. “Behavioral safety program: Creating a new corporate culture.” Int. J. Ind. Ergon. 12 (3): 193–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-8141(93)90025-9.
Reiman, T., and E. Pietikäinen. 2012. “Leading indicators of system safety—Monitoring and driving the organizational safety potential.” Saf. Sci. 50 (10): 1993–2000. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2011.07.015.
Republic of South Africa. 2011. “National development plan: Vison for 2030.” Accessed October 30, 2018. https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/devplan_2.pdf.
Republic of South Africa. 2014. Occupational health and safety Act, 1993. Pretoria, South Africa: Republic of South Africa.
Robson, L. S., J. A. Clarke, K. Cullen, A. Bielecky, C. Severin, P. L. Bigelow, E. Irvin, A. Culyer, and Q. Mahood. 2007. “The effectiveness of occupational health and safety management system interventions: A systematic review.” Saf. Sci. 45 (3): 329–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2006.07.003.
Schreier, M. 2014. “Qualitative content analysis.” In The SAGE handbook of qualitative data analysis, 170–183. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Shea, T., H. De Cieri, R. Donohue, B. Cooper, and C. Sheehan. 2016. “Leading indicators of occupational health and safety: An employee and workplace level validation study.” Saf. Sci. 85 (Jun): 293–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2016.01.015.
South African Department of Labour. 2014. Construction regulation. Pretoria, South Africa: South African Department of Labour.
Tam, C. M., T. K. L. Tong, G. C. W. Chiu, and I. W. H. Fung. 2002. “Non-structural fuzzy decision support system for evaluation of construction safety management system.” Int. J. Project Manage. 20 (4): 303–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(00)00055-7.
Teo, E. A. L., F. Y. Y. Ling, and A. F. W. Chong. 2005. “Framework for project managers to manage construction safety.” Int. J. Project Manage. 23 (4): 329–341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2004.09.001.
Thayer, A., M. Evans, and J. Spyridakis. 2007. “Content analysis as a best practice in technical communication research.” J. Tech. Writing Commun. 37 (3): 267–279. https://doi.org/10.2190/TW.37.3.c.
Vekinis, D., D. Kielkowski, K. Wilson, B. Bello, and D. Rees. 2010. Work-related fatalities in the South African construction industry: 2004 to 2006. Cape Town, South Africa: Occupational Health Southern Africa.
Windapo, A. O. 2011. “Investigation into the level of compliance to construction health and safety requirements within the South African construction industry.” In Vol. 23 of Proc., CIB W009 Conf., 25. Washington, DC: Construction Industry Development Board.
Wu, X., Q. Liu, L. Zhang, M. J. Skibniewski, and Y. Wang. 2015. “Prospective safety performance evaluation on construction sites.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 78 (May): 58–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2015.02.003.
Zahoor, H., A. P. C. Chan, W. P. Utama, and R. Gao. 2015. “A research framework for investigating the relationship between safety climate and safety performance in the construction of multi-storey buildings in Pakistan.” Procedia Eng. 118: 581–589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2015.08.488.
Zhi, X., L. Chunming, and Z. Chi. 2012. “Model of total safety management (TSM) and its application.” Procedia Eng. 45 (2012): 204–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2012.08.144.
Zohar, D., and G. Luria. 2005. “A multilevel model of safety climate: Cross-level relationships between organization and group-level climates.” J. Appl. Psychol. 90 (4): 616–628. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.4.616.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 146 • Issue 5 • May 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 3, 2019
Accepted: Nov 19, 2019
Published online: Mar 9, 2020
Published in print: May 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Aug 9, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.