Assessment of Occupational Health and Safety Knowledge of Construction Site Management Team in Tanzania

Abstract

The construction industry is animportant sector in Tanzania that drivesthe growth and productivity of the economy. Despite its importance, it is characterized with the reputation of being dangerous and highly hazardous. However, studies on occupational health and safety knowledge of construction sites management is quite limited. This study was conducted in selected construction sites in Mwanza city with a specific focus on health and safety knowledge required, the way it is acquired and transferred, challenges in acquiring and transferring and knowledge transfer mechanism to mitigate the challenges for construction site management team. In pursuing these objectivesthe survey methodswas adopted on the selected construction sites in Mwanza. This study used fifty-five respondents to obtain necessary information concerning the occupational health and safety knowledge of construction sites management. The findings shows that, construction site management team mainly require more knowledge on communication and risk management. The communication facilitates the acquisition of knowledge and ability to report health and safety issues to effectively manage risk. The ways health and safety knowledge are transferred and acquired were through informal discussions, collaboration, and demonstration. Also, the challenges faced by construction site management team in acquiring and transferring health and safety knowledge were lack of knowledge on risk assessment, equipment and risk nature of construction site. The mitigation measures on the challenges in acquiring and transferring health and safety knowledge of construction site management team were the provision of knowledge on risk assessment, equipment and increases qualification of construction site management team. Finally, this study recommended that health and safety policy should encourage on the communication and control risk on behalf of the construction site management team. It needs to state and supervise the control and management of risk to promote health and safety of construction site management team.