Health and safety on construction sites in Ghana

The state of health and safety on construction sites in Ghana was investigated using first hand observation of fourteen (14) construction project sites in 2009 and 2010. At each site, the construction project, workers and the physical environment of the site were inspected and evaluated against health and safety indicators taken from the literature. The results reveal a poor state of health and safety on Ghanaian construction sites. The primary reasons are a lack of strong institutional framework for governing construction activities and poor enforcement of health and safety policies and procedures. Also, Ghanaian society does not place a high premium on health and safety of construction workers on site. Interviews with workers indicated that injuries and accidents are common on sites. However, compensation for injury is often at the discretion of the contractor although collective bargaining agreements between Labour unions and employers prescribe obligations for the contractor in the event of injury to a worker.

Race-to-the-bottom or -top at home or abroad: Health and safety standards and the multinational firm

We develop a model to illustrate potential complexities in the relationship between corporate geographical diversification and the health and safety (H&S) standards set in national jurisdictions. A firm, that initially has a plant in its home country, may choose to also have one or two foreign plants in order to improve its bargaining position versus local governments, and so ensure reduced H&S standards, i.e. a race-to-the-bottom. However, contrary to the main focus of the popular debate on this topic, we note the potential for the race-to-the-bottom tendency to be exerted on H&S standards in the multinational company’s home rather than host country, and also for an upward push on H&S to instead result.

Revolution blues: the reconstruction of Health and Safety as a ‘common-sense’ form of regulation

This paper provides a review of the last five years of policymaking in the area of health and safety law; this includes multiple reviews, legislative reform, and the reframing of rhetoric around the issue. It characterises this as a process of social construction of a new ‘universe of meaning’ around health and safety regulation, which provides a basis for a particular, narrow, neoliberal conception of regulation and responsibility to permeate the mainstream. Deliberative and public-facing policymaking processes have been utilised as a key element of this process.

Il/legitimate risks? Occupational health and safety and the public in Britain, c. 1960-2015

The last 20 years have seen the emergence of a popular climate of antipathy towards occupational health and safety regulation within the UK, particularly within the mainstream British media. The governance of health and safety has thus in recent years become an increasingly visible and contested public and political issue. The extent of this contestation, and its impact on the State’s governance of health and safety in the workplace and beyond, is explained and historicized within this chapter. Why has public rhetoric about health and safety apparently become so important in framing the ways in which the State could legitimately act in recent years? The chapter demonstrates how since 1960 the State remained a significant player – one among many, admittedly – and that while its roles in managing health and safety had long been bounded by a number of factors, a variable that emerged with particular saliency over the last 20 years has been a mediated notion of ‘public opinion’. This focus serves to remind us of the ways in which State action has at certain moments been pushed in particular directions by factors beyond formal mechanisms of rule.

Role of headmasters, teachers and supervisors in knowledge transfer about occupational health and safety to pupils in vocational education

Background Young people are at an increased risk for illness in working life. The authorities stipulate certain goals for training in occupational health and safety (OHS) in vocational schools. A previous study concluded that pupils in vocational education had limited knowledge in the prevention of health risks at work. The aim of the current study, therefore, was to study how OHS training is organized in school and in workplace-based learning (WPL).   Method The study design featured a qualitative approach, which included interviews with 12 headmasters, 20 teachers, and 20 supervisors at companies in which the pupils had their WPL. The study was conducted at 10 upper secondary schools, located in Central Sweden, that were graduating pupils in four vocational programs.   Result The interviews with headmasters, teachers, and supervisors indicate a staggered picture of how pupils are prepared for safe work. The headmasters generally give teachers the responsibility for how goals should be reached. Teaching is very much based on risk factors that are present in the workshops and on teachers’ own experiences and knowledge. The teaching during WPL also lacks the systematic training in OHS as well as in the traditional classroom environment.   Conclusion Teachers and supervisors did not plan the training in OHS in accordance with the provisions of systematic work environment management. Instead, the teachers based the training on their own experiences. Most of the supervisors did not get information from the schools as to what should be included when introducing OHS issues in WPL.

Young peoples’ entrance to the workplace : Introduction to occupational health and safety

Negative outcomes of a poor work environment are more frequent among young workers. The aim of the current study was to study former pupils’ conditions concerning occupational health and safety by investigating the workplaces’, safety climate, the degree of implementation of SWEM and the their introduction programs. Four branches were included in the study: Industrial, Restaurant, Transport and Handicraft, specialising in wood. Semi-structured dialogues were undertaken with 15 employers at companies in which former pupils were employed. They also answered a questionnaire about SWEM. Former pupils and experienced employees were upon the same occasion asked to fill in a questionnaire about safety climate at the workplace. Workplace introduction programs varied and were strongly linked to company size. Most of the former pupils and experienced employees rated the safety climate at their company as high, or good. Employers in three of the branches rated the SWEM implemented at their workplaces to be effective. The Industry companies, which had the largest workplaces, gave the most systematic and workplace introduction for new employees. There are no results from this study explaining the fact that young workers have a higher risk for workplace accidents.

Incentive or deterrent: which encourages greater focus on health and safety in the Victorian construction industry?

The Australian Government commissioned a Royal Commission into the building industry in Australia that reported to Parliament in August 2002. Volume 6 of this report, released in February 2003, discussed certain aspects in occupational health and safety in Australia and leaned toward deterrents as a means of achieving reform. This research defines both incentives and deterrents used to increase awareness of, and improve safety on, building sites in Victoria, a state of Australia. A pilot survey questionnaire was developed following a literature review and industry employer representatives were invited to participate. Industry awareness of Government incentive programmes was found to be low, with less than a quarter stating they read Government strategies. One fund that provides actual research monies into health and safety was known to very few of the respondents. Of the employers surveyed, the majority agreed that financial fines do act as a valid deterrent. Increases in worker compensation premiums were seen as the greatest deterrent due to the effect on company overheads and thus competitive tendering bids. Deterrent programmes were more readily acknowledged by employers as they had an element of self promotion with employers attempting to avoid their application.

Some care, little responsibility? Promoting directors'and managers' legal accountability for Occupational Health and Safety in the workplace

Health and safety at work remains a serious and under-recognised problem in Australia. This paper argues for the importance of increasing the individual responsibility and accountability of senior managers and directors of corporations for the development and maintenance of occupational health and safety (OHS) standards in the workplace. In order to do so, the paper first sets out the range of statutory and general law duties and liabilities to which directors and senior managers are subject, considers to what extent these obligations have relevance in the OHS area and argues for the extension of these duties and liabilities in some circumstances. The paper then goes on to argue for a better legislative model for the legal responsibility of managers and officers, supported by the increased prosecution of individuals in appropriate circumstances, as well as acknowledging the benefits of a broader range of non-legal strategies to improve board level commitment to OHS that will influence corporate compliance overall.

Not quite a brave new world: Victoria's occupational health and safety Act 2004

This article provides a concise overview ofthe Victoria's new Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 ("OHSA 2004"). After outlining the Maxwell Report on which much ofthe OHSA 2004 is based, the article examines the principal legislative provisions of the Act, especially those that differ from the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985 (Vic) ("1985 Act"). Analysis of the legislation evaluates some positive developments, as well as suggests amendments. Although the OHSA 2004 contains numerous alterations in its scheme as compared to the 1985 Act, these changes are unlikely to usher in a brave new world of occupational health and safety regulation in Victoria

Occupational health and safety management systems : system types and effectiveness

The aim of this thesis is to develop a framework to evaluate the relative performance of different types of health and safety management system. This objective is an analytical one, but it stems from a policy issue of public importance. Over the past decade Australia, like other countries, has seen the emergence and growth of interest in developing health and safety management systems. But are they all the same, and if not, do they differ in their effectiveness? The thesis does not seek to give a definitive answer to these questions. Given the novelty of the phenomenon and the lack of research on this subject, the research is exploratory. An hypothesis about the effectiveness of different health and safety management systems is developed rather than tested. The thesis proceeds by first defining health and safety management systems as a combination of the planning and review, the management arrangements, the consultative arrangements and the specific program elements that work together in an integrated way to improve health and safety performance. A research procedure is described involving twenty exploratory case studies. The thesis then - develops - from the literature and the case study research - an analytical framework to evaluate the performance of different health and safety management systems. That framework has two parts. First is a typology of health and safety management systems. This is constructed from two distinctions - between 'safe place' and 'safe person' approaches to health and safety; and between 'innovative' and traditional' management methods and structures. These distinctions yield four types of system. The typology was applied to the case studies which yielded a reasonable fit in most instances. The second part of the framework is a 'process evaluation' technique akin to Quality standards. Derived from the Victorian SafetyMAP audit criteria, the "e;process evaluation tool "e; is preferred to traditional outcome measures such as incident or claim rates. Using this measure, the twenty case study enterprises were classified as above average, average or below average in performance. These results correlated poorly with traditional incident trend and benchmark measures. The two elements of the framework are then combined to explore the relationship between the different types of system and their performance. Evidence from the twenty case studies showed a tendency for innovative/safe place firms to perform better than traditional/safe person firms. This finding can form the basis for a hypothesis that may be subject to statistical testing on a generalisable sample. In addition five 'best practice' cases were selected and subjected to a cross case analysis to search for common characteristics that might explain their performance. This analysis suggests the importance of a number of factors: senior managers who drive health and safety change and mobilise all possible resources in the pursuit of change; health and safety representatives who work with managers in a 'joint regulatory relationship' across system activities; the involvement of employees more generally, but not as a substitute for action by managers and health and safety representatives; a comprehensive approach to elimination of all hazards; and the introduction of innovative programs to continually improve systems and facilitate employee involvement in health and safety.