College of Engineering,

Department of Construction Technology and Management

Title Of Thesis: Assessment of health and safety management

practices in building construction sites in Debre Birhan city

Prepared by: -

Name…..................................ID

1. Eyoatam Teferi 1319/12

2. Elias Kassahun 1865/12
3. Abynur Abraham 1859/12
4. Ermias Shimelis 3666/12

Advisor: Tesfa Fantaw(MS )

Debre Birhan University, Debre Birhan, Ethiopia.

December 2023
Assessment of health and safety management practices in building construction sites in Debre Birhan city

Executive summary
This report shows that many construction sites are seen in the city to meet the increasing
population and housing demand in Debre Berhan city. However, it provides an analysis of the
problems in the management of health and safety on construction sites and the methods to solve
them. Health and safety management is the study of how well the practice complies with safety
regulations.

Many construction companies in Debre Berhan city have seen wide gaps in the measures taken
to improve the safety of workers. They do not provide regular safety training, safety equipment,
safety instructions and safety instructions to employees. Safety equipment, exits, and appropriate
safety signs indicating where safety equipment is located are not visible when used. Therefore,
this report confirms that health and safety gaps in site management within the city have been
addressed and established security policies and procedures are not consistently followed.
Continuously train employees on site safety policies and procedures and keep employees up to
date on any changes related to safety and minimize risks. Regular health and safety audits are
also recommended to ensure compliance with safety regulations.

Acknowledgment
First of all, glory and praise be to God Almighty who gave me the opportunity to study the BS
program and study skills. We would like to say thank you to our families who have supported
us financially and encouraged us.

Also, we would like to thank our Advisor, Tesfa Fantaw, for his hard work and tireless guidance
in teaching us until we finished our work.

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Assessment of health and safety management practices in building construction sites in Debre Birhan city

Abbreviations
PPA......................Public Procurement Agency

GPS.....................Global positions System

RFID....................Radio Frequency Identification

UK.......................United Kingdom

List of Tables
Table 2 work plan 10

Table3 Budget Breakdown 10

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Assessment of health and safety management practices in building construction sites in Debre Birhan city

Table of Contents
Executive summary..........................................................................................................................i
Acknowledgment..............................................................................................................................i
Abbreviations..................................................................................................................................ii
List of Tables...................................................................................................................................ii
Table of Contents...........................................................................................................................iii
Chapter One: Introduction...............................................................................................................1
1.1 Background............................................................................................................................1
1.2 Statement of the problem.......................................................................................................1
1.3 Objective................................................................................................................................2
General objectives...................................................................................................................2
Specific objectives...................................................................................................................2
1.4 Research Questions................................................................................................................2
1.5 Significance of the study.......................................................................................................3
1.6 Scope......................................................................................................................................3
Chapter Two: Literature..................................................................................................................4
2.1 Related studies.......................................................................................................................4
2.2 Site health and safety in construction....................................................................................4
2.3 Construction health and safety responsibilities.....................................................................5
2.4 Causes of accidents in construction.......................................................................................6
2.5 Health and safety problems on construction sites..................................................................6
2.6 Construction health and safety rules in Ethiopia...................................................................7
Chapter Three: Methodology...........................................................................................................9
3.1 Study area..............................................................................................................................9
3.2 Study design...........................................................................................................................9
3.3 Population..............................................................................................................................9
3.4 Sample size and selection......................................................................................................9
3.5 Data Collection process.........................................................................................................9
3.6 Ethical Considerations...........................................................................................................9
4. Work Plan...................................................................................................................................10
5. Budget Breakdown.....................................................................................................................10
6. References.................................................................................................................................11

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Assessment of health and safety management practices in building construction sites in Debre Birhan city

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 Assessment of health and safety management practices in building construction sites in Debre Birhan

Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Background
In the city of Debre Birhan, building construction and road works are being done on a large
scale for the past Three years. Buildings and paved roads stand here and there. Wood
Scaffolding, it is very common to see construction structures using earth moving machines such
as excavators, loaders, dump trucks, excavators, tractors and loaders. Roads and buildings are
among the main projects in the city. Although there are laws and regulations to address health
and safety in the workplace at the state and city level, their enforcement is very limited.
Although there are many constructions in Debre Berhan city, the results of the health and safety
observation show that they have not been implemented. Health - the protection of people's
bodies and minds from disease caused by materials, processes or procedures used in the
workplace. Basic definition Safety - the prevention of physical injury to people. The boundary
between health and safety is not well defined and the two terms commonly refer to the concern
for the physical and mental well-being of the individual in the workplace. Although the risk
remains high, the risk can be reduced through the provision of safety equipment, training and
supervision. the purpose of this research is that to assessment of safety practice involving worker
in building project in Debre Birhan city.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Building constructions on our city are increasing day by day, and these constructions. Activities
are mostly done by human power and machines. If the building is not properly managed by
construction companies after construction, problems will surely increase. the construction of
Debre Berhan city projects is growing and activities are becoming more common, the health and
safety of the construction are seen as very important. But there are many safety concerns in
construction projects.

 The problem of not purchasing materials to save unknown costs, knowingly or

unknowingly.
 Assigning unqualified and inexperienced workers without training.
 Employees not using belts.
 Not wearing safety shoes.

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 Assessment of health and safety management practices in building construction sites in Debre Birhan

 Not using reflective clothing, gloves and helmets.

 Lack of adequate health and safety equipment at construction sites.
 Lack of attention to safety issues (negligence).

As a result, workers such as falls, injuries and death may occur if adequate precautions are not
taken. These are the reasons for the health problems of workers. The main focus of this article is
to provide a solution to the health and safety problem in the construction industry.

1.3 Objective

General objectives
The general objective of this study is to evaluate health and safety management practices at
construction sites in Debre Berhan city.

Specific objectives
 To avoid the causes of death and injury of people in construction sites.
 Encouraging the safety and use of specific personal protective equipment (PPE) to
ensure their safety and health.
 Respond to key issues (questions) affecting safety and health in the construction site.
 To demonstrate appropriate measures to improve safety and health practices

1.4 Research Questions

1. What are the most common accidents at construction sites?

2. What factors influence safety practices and training on construction sites?

3. How to promote health and safety measures on construction sites?

4. What are the identify ways to reduce hazards faced by respondents’ construction
workers?

5. Why is health and safety equipment not widely available?

6. What are the health and safety issues on construction sites?

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1.5 Significance of the study

The study will benefit the following:

1- Construction workers: Awareness of hazards urges workers to comply with safety rules
at the construction site. Promote health and safety knowledge of employees and create
healthy citizens.
2- Owner: Reduced risks save money. The cost of accidents is high.
3- Contractor: As well as reduced risks, contractors save money because they have to
pay the value of employee management from their own profit is therefore important
for contractors who save their workers.
4- Providing opportunities for continuous improvement in the life cycle of the
project. 5- Provide a simple tool that can be used as an incentive for employees.
6- The implementation of health and safety measures has a significant contribution to the
project's clients, contractors, investors and workers as well as to the development of the
building.
7- To increase the commitment of stakeholders to use health and safety.

The study contributes to the body of knowledge on health and safety issues in the construction
industry as a whole.

1.6 Scope
The study will focus on health and safety in building construction sites of Debre Birhan city both
in public and private buildings, workers in construction sites who are mostly susceptible to the
risk.

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Chapter Two: Literature

2.1 Related studies
Many safety accidents occur in a construction site. Fall and drop is a major accident so many
studies have focused on removing its causes.

Research [2] showed that fall and drop accident occurs most frequently according to the analysis
of scaffolding types and accident types. The research proposed a safety net, a joint between
scaffoldings and the building being constructed, and so on to reduce the accidents. A paper [3]
investigated severe fall accidents in temporary works, and indicated improper and inefficient.
safety management system in construction sites. The paper suggested that the installation and
malfunction of temporary facilities, the method of temporary works, and the contents of the
contract should be improved. An analysis [4] found that the causes of fall accident were
employment status, period of continuous employment, when to work, tasks to work, unstable
behavior, and unsafe environment. But it didn't show a specific alternative. The influence
network [5] was used to analyze various causes of fall accidents, and found the paths between.
effect factors in order to reduce the safety accidents. Recently, there are several efforts to prevent
safety accidents using information technology. Studies [6, 7] developed the warning systems
using real-time GPS (global positioning system) to warn workers when they were near dangerous
areas.

The studies need more accuracy of a worker's position in a construction

site. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) based real-time locating system [8] showed that
safety management level could be raised by information technology and GPS, but jamming to
locate a worker's position might be a problem.

2.2 Site health and safety in construction

The main health and safety site requirements in construction relate to tidy sites and decent
welfare, falls from height, manual handling, and transport on site. Site operatives are normally
required to plan and organize their operations, ensure that they are trained and competent and
know the special risks of their trade and raise problems with their site supervisor or safety
representative (HSE, 2009).

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The main personal protective equipment (PPE) in construction (including clothing affording
protection against the weather) which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and
which protects him against one or more risks to his health or safety. PPE should be regarded as a
"last resort when considering control measures. Other methods should be considered and used
that will reduce or eliminate risk to injury. However, where PPE is the only effective means of
controlling the risks of injury or ill health, then employers must ensure that PPE is available. PPE
should be worn at all construction sites. A typical construction site may require workers to wear
a hard hat, coveralls, safety footwear, gloves, eye protection and high visibility vest. These must
be provided to all employees.

2.3 Construction health and safety responsibilities

Construction health and safety should be of primary concern to employers, employees,
governments and project participants (Kheni, 2008). Thus, the main parties responsible for
construction health and safety are the client, main contractor, regulatory agencies and employees.
Health and safety duties of state and regulatory agencies: Government regulatory agencies often.
enact regulations to help ensure that a construction project is safe to build, safe to use, and safe to
maintain and delivers you good value, good health and safety planning also helps to ensure. that
a project is well managed and that unexpected costs and problems are minimized. Health and
safety duties of employer: Clients have a big influence over how work is done, where potential
health and safety risks are low, clients are required to do little. Where they are higher, clients
need to do more. Employers must assess the work being undertaken and the environment his
employees will operate in when determining the appropriate PPE to be worn.

Health and safety duties of main contractor: Main Contractors must check that all subcontractors
are conforming by providing PPE for all their employees (those who are self-employed for tax
reasons, but who otherwise work in an employee employer relationship are also entitled to
receive PPE) free of charge. Health and safety duties of employees: Employees should be made
aware of their responsibility to wear the PPE appropriately, take care of equipment and report
any defects. They should also be informed that if they do not wear or misuse any PPE that has
been appropriately issued that this could lead to disciplinary action. This equipment is provided
for their protection.

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2.4 Causes of accidents in construction.

The underlying causes of construction accidents can be categorized under societal and
industrywide influences (macro); project process factors (mezzo) and
worker/supervisor/workplace causes (micro). The causes of construction accidents at the macro
level were identified to include immature corporate systems, inappropriate enforcement, lack of
proper accident data, lack of leadership from 'Government' as a key client and a lack of influence
of trades unions in practice on most sites, especially for smaller projects. immature project
systems and processes, inappropriate procurement and supply chain arrangements, lack of
understanding and engagement by some of the design community, lack of proper accident
investigation/data and consequently, a lack of organizational learning.

Micro factors included a shortage of competent supervisors; a lack of individual competency and
understanding of workers and supervisors; the ineffectiveness or lack of training and
certification of competence: a lack of ownership, engagement and empowerment of,
communication with and responsibility for workers and supervisors.

These factors were also exacerbated by poor behavior, cost pressures; poor equipment or misuse
of equipment, including personal protective equipment: site hazards; poor employment
practices, an itinerant workforce and inadequate management of and provision for vulnerable
workers such as younger, older or migrant workers.

The study was based on an international consultation with 15 overseas construction industry
expert stakeholders: phone/email interviews/consultation with 27 UK senior construction
industry expert stakeholders; in-depth face to face interviews with 15 practitioners from the
UK construction industry; and phone interviews with 15 workers representing the UK's smaller
organizations/sole-traders (Brace et al., 2009).

2.5 Health and safety problems on construction sites

There are health and safety problems on almost all construction sites which relate to reporting
accidents, employing and subcontracting. Employing: all personnel who are employed to carry
out construction work on site must be trained, competent and fit to do the job safely and without
putting their own or others' health and safety at risk; properly supervised and given clear
instructions; have access to washing and toilet facilities; have the right tools, equipment, plant.

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and protective clothing; educated about health and safety issues with them (or their
representatives); have arrangements for employees' health surveillance where required.
Accidents: all accidents or work-related illness should be reported to the appropriate authorities
within a reasonable or stipulated timeframe.

Subcontracting: main contractors should ensure that they check the health and safety
performance of the subcontractors they plan to use; give subcontractors the health and safety
information they need for the work; talk about the work with them before they start; make sure
that you have provided everything agreed (e.g. safe scaffolds, the right plant, access to welfare
set) and check their performance and remedy shortcomings.

Safe and healthy working conditions do not happen by chance. Employers need to have a written
safety policy for their enterprise setting out the safety and health standards which it is their
objective to achieve. The policy should name the senior executive who is responsible for seeing
that the standards are achieved, and who has authority to allocate responsibilities to management
and supervisors at all levels and to see they are carried out.

Nearly 6.5 million people work at approximately 252,000 construction sites across the nation on
any given day. The fatal injury rate for the construction industry is higher than the national
average in this category for all industries.

Potential hazards for workers in construction include:

 Scaffold collapse
 Falls (from heights)
 Trench collapse
 Electric shock and are flash/are blast
 Failure to use proper personal protective equipment and, repetitive motion injuries.

2.6 Construction health and safety rules in Ethiopia

The fundamental law of the state which is the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia, the Civil Code (Proclamation # 165/1960) together with the Labor Code
(Proclamation No 377/20003) are the general legal basis for health and safety rules in Ethiopia,
Numerous articles/provisions are provided under these general laws regarding health and safety

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of people. Labor Code ensures worker-employer relations and enables workers and employers to
maintain industrial peace.

It strengthens and defines the powers and duties of the organ charged with the responsibility of
inspecting labor administration, particularly labor conditions. occupational safety, health and
environment.

The following provisions are set: Article 92 clearly spells out the fundamental obligations of an
employer with regard to putting in place of all the necessary measures in order to ensure,
workplaces are safe, healthy and free of any danger to the well-being of workers. In the same
article the employer is obliged to take, in particular the following measures to safeguard the
health and safety of the workers:

To comply with the occupational safety and health requirements provided for in the
proclamation; take appropriate steps to ensure that workers are properly instructed is notified
concerning the hazards of their respective occupations and the pre cautions necessary to avoid
accident and injury to health.

Ensure that directive is given and also assign safety officer. establishes an occupational, safety
and health committee, provides workers with protective equipment, clothing and other materials
and instruct them of its use, obliged to register and notify to the nearest labor inspection services
occupational accident and diseases) arrange according to the nature of the work at his/her own
expense, for the medical examination of newly employed workers, and for those workers
engaged in hazardous work as may nearly, take appropriate pre-executions to ensure that all
processes of work shall not be a source or cause of physical, chemical, biological, agronomical
and psychological hazards to the health and safety of the workers.

Article 93 provides the obligations of workers pertaining to the required co-operation and putting
into practice of the regulation and instruction given by the employer in order to ensure safety
health and working conditions at work places. The law has clearly stipulated about occupational
injuries with all other related provisions. Construction organizations should train and educate all
workers to be aware of potential hazards and guide them on how to avoid potential hazards.

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Chapter Three: Methodology

3.1 Study area
The location of this study will be the city of Debre Birhan construction buildings.

3.2 Study design

A structured individual interview and a closed-ended questionnaire are used in this study. This
questionnaire is formulated through a review and understanding of relevant literature on
health and safety practice in construction.

3.3 Population
The population of this study will include the employees, managers, supervisors and workers
of the construction companies' sites and offices at the Deber Birhan construction site project.

3.4 Sample size and selection

Those participating in the interview include engineers, contractors and labors from different
construction companies in Debre Birhan. The criteria to be selected will be the level of the
company from the list of construction companies in Debre Birhan.

3.5 Data Collection process

There are two types of data used in this research primary and secondary data. The main data
collection of this research will be questionnaire method. The secondary data is collected from
engineering journal publications, websites, health and safety in construction site books, previous
authors, PhD students etc.

3.6 Ethical Considerations

The scope of this study is construction site workers such as construction managers, office
engineers, skilled and unskilled workers. After permission is obtained from the University's
Department Construction and Technology Management, most construction companies accept
visits and health and safety assessments of what is being done on their site during the work.

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4. Work Plan
Table 2: work plan

5. Budget Breakdown
No Item description Price (Br)

Stationary 1800

Transport cost 1300

Print, copy, bind, 1500

etc.

4600

Table 3: Budget Breakdown

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6. References
HSE (2009); Lingard and Rowlinson (2005)

Health and safety on construction sites in Ghana Author by Samuel Laryea

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) (2009).

Kheni, N.A. (2008) Impact of Health and Safety

Management Ethiopia - Civil Code Proclamation No.

165/1960.

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