SAFETY MANAGEMENT ON CONFINED BUILDING SITES IN NIGERIA

Construction is filled with numerous health and safety challenges. Confined construction sites, by their very nature, have characteristics that are likely to increase the health and safety risk because of the limited space on site. The aim of the study is to assess safety management on confined building construction sites in Nigeria. The study also looks into safety challenges and practices on confined building sites. The study adopted a quantitative research method through the use of a questionnaire and checklist. One hundred and twenty questionnaires were administered to construction site managers who have experience managing projects on confined sites, while ten confined building construction sites were visited. The checklist was used to assess health and safety provisions on these sites. Findings reveal that slip and fall, overexertion and repetitive motion injuries were the most reported cases of accidents and injuries on site. Challenges in handling materials, difficulty in providing temporary facilities on site, congestion, ergonomic hazards, difficulty in managing waste materials on site, and lack of adequate storage space are the health and safety challenges on the confined building sites. Developing and implementing a health and safety plan, a buildability analysis, implementing a construction programme, implementing a good site design/layout, developing and implementing construction methodology and placement of signage on site are the strategies to improve health and safety on confined sites.