Health and safety in the Malawian construction industry

Abstract

Construction Health and Safety (H&S) is of significant importance to the improvement and sustainability of the construction process. This is why at various levels of the construction process, clients, project managers, architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and manufacturers have endeavoured to improve H&S management practices in construction. However, the implementation of H&S in construction has not resulted in a commensurate improvement in the industry. The thrust of the issue is the assessment of the level of knowledge of legislation through the devolution of responsibilities to stakeholders; and perceptions relative to H&S in Malawi. Therefore, for objectivity purposes, a quantitative survey was conducted among key construction industry stakeholders such as clients, architects, engineers, project managers, and contractors. Selected findings include that the status of H&S in Malawian construction is sub-optimal, and that the contributions of clients, project managers, architects, engineers, building and civil engineering contractors have been sporadic, rather than significant. Notably, poor H&S recurs in construction, and H&S is perceived to be the duty of site managers.