Impact of the Management of Work Environmental Hazards on the Perceived Quality of Occupational Health and Safety among Operational Employees in Construction Industry

Abstract

The construction industry is one of the most hazardous industries in a country due to the nature of the products and the processes involved. In Sri Lanka, the construction industry plays a major role in the national economy. However, the prevention of such work environmental hazards still needs more attention in the construction field. The field currently reports a high level of accidents on construction sites that are either major or minor. Further, environmental hazards in the construction field in Sri Lanka have not been sufficiently studied empirically. Hence, this study was conducted to assess the work environmental hazards and their impact on the perceived quality of occupational health and safety among construction employees in the construction industry in Sri Lanka. The researchers used the quantitative survey method for this study on a sample of 154 construction employees, randomly selected. Correlation and regression analysis were utilized as the data analysis methods. The findings revealed that the management of environmental hazards have a significant positive impact on operational employees’ perception of the quality of health and safety. The authors highlighted possible behavioral issues of employees such as retention issues if managers are not seriously committed towards improving the quality of their health and safety management practices. Towards this end, among other directions, the researchers highlighted implications to policy, practice, and research with suggestions for empowering HRM in the industry, following best practices, and pursuing innovative and varied research qualitatively and quantitative to study the phenomena in a more context based manner.