Occupational Safety and Health Issues among Contractor Workers in Roadway Maintenance Works in Nyeri County, Kenya

Abstract

There is an inherent risk of injury, fatality or ill health in all occupations. The nature of the construction industry combined with the required physical demands and rigorous work processes, make it an industry that faces several safety and health issues and thus higher risk of ill health, injury or fatality. Many road maintenance operations are potentially dangerous both to the maintenance workers and to the road users. To reduce the risk of accidents where road works take place, it is necessary to apply adequate safety measures. This research work aimed at assessing the level of awareness of occupational safety and health issues in roadway maintenance works among road contractors, identifying the current safety and health practices in roadway maintenance works, and finally outlining the challenges, if any, that hinder good occupation safety and health practices in roadway maintenance activities. A checklist developed from the various rules governing construction and maintenance works was used to conduct workplace inspections. 100% sampling was done from the target population and questionnaires were administered to 122 workers of on-going class A, B and C road maintenance projects in Nyeri county during the data collection phase. Thereafter, the data was analysed using SPSS software, descriptive and inferential statistical analysis were carried out. In this study, males were found to have increased awareness about OSH issues than their female counterparts. Increase in age was found to have a positive correlation with awareness of occupational safety and health issues. Training on OSH had a strong positive correlation (r=0.88, p=0.00) with regards to OSH practices. Similarly, there was a correlation between knowledge on workman attire (r=0.68, p=0.044) and OSH practices. Knowledge on equipment handling also had a strong positive correlation (r=0.72, p=0.00) with regards to OSH practices. It was observed that majority (75%) of roadway maintenance works had no necessary warning and direction signs in place. Partial or lack of compliance of OSH as per the legal framework poses a serious risk to safety in roadway maintenance works. The study recommends that the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services (DOSHS) undertake safety awareness programs within the road maintenance sector. DOSHS should also do inspection patrols to check that safety laws and regulations are being adhered to in road maintenance works. Each contractor should develop clear safety policy guidelines depending on the scope of work. This will help to ease the understanding of the safety requirements and consequently improve compliance.