STATE OF HEALTH AND SAFETY AMONG THE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS AT BATTICALOA

Abstract

In developing countries, construction sector is one of the most important sectors that have a great contribution to economic development with its employment capacity and added-value to the economy. On the other hand, due to the lack of preventive measures, occupational accidents occur, frequently in construction. Construction sector involves high risk due to its production processes and labor intensive characteristic. Occupational accidents cause important social and economic problems by loss of life and physical injuries. Major occupational accidents are defined as the cause of serious injuries and a long-term disability; minor occupational accidents are defined as the cause of insignificant injuries and short-term disability. Minor occupational accidents are not considered sufficiently, they are even not kept as a record. It is known that minor occupational accidents, which are not considered sufficiently and even not registered, cause great financial loss in workplaces. This study investigates Personal Productive Equipment (PPE), Welfare Facilities, Labors Awareness and Nature of Working Environment of three (3) construction firms. Hundred and fifty-two (I52) workers selected from those three firms. And data were collected through closed questionnaires .Questionnaires distributed among machine operators, carpenter, electrician and casual workers. All the questions were restored to represent a hundred percent response rate. And data analyzed using SPSS version 22 to find the results. Moreover, this study found that the workers perceive high level of site welfare facilities, labors awareness, nature of working environment and have moderate level of personal productive equipment usage. Further, the findings of this study offer guidance to the organizations looking to be creative within the organization. Finally, recommendations were given to overcome the health issues