ABSTRACT
This research project examined hazard in high
rising building with a case study of shopping mall in Esan West Local
Government Area of Edo State. The motivation for this is associated with the
types of hazards that are resulting from the construction of most commercial
buildings as shopping malls especially in Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government
Area of Edo State. The objectives examined the nature and types of hazards
within the building sites, examine the causes of the hazard, examine the effects
of the hazard and possible solutions for reducing site hazard in commercial
building. Data was collected through the administration of structured
questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, such as frequency
count and percentage. The findings from the study revealed that the use of poor
quality and substandard materials are the major reasons for the hazard
associated with the construction of commercial buildings in the study area. It was
therefore recommended that professionals in the building industry should
maintain their integrity and professional ethics and work in accordance to
standard practice procedures laid down by the standard form of building
contracts, town development agencies at various
levels of government should enforce control of building works in their
localities as laid down in urban and regional planning, organize periodic
public awareness campaign through electronic and print media to sensitize the
public on advantages of using professionals as the way of realizing safe
buildings, standard organization of Nigeria should be vigilant to ensure that
building materials imported into the country conforms to standard requirements and
proper planning, supervision and monitoring of construction activities should
be institutionalized by policy makers to ensure that all buildings are
constructed according to design, specifications and planning regulations.
CHAPTER
ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
In the developed as
well as developing part of the world, construction industry is considered to be
one of the most significant industries. However, the construction industry at
the same time is also recognized to be the most hazardous (Suazo and Jaselkis,
1993: Farooqi, 2008). Although dramatic improvement has been made in recent decades,
the safety record in the construction industry continues to be one of the
poorest (Farooqi, 2008). The major causes of accidents in the construction
industry are related to the unique nature of the industry, human behavior,
difficult work site conditions, non-payment of adequate attention to safety
measures, and poor safety management which result in unsafe work methods and
procedures. Accident statistics represent not only terrible human tragedies but
also substantial economic costs. Accidents can also cause work disruption and
reduce the work rate Enbassi, Choudhry, Mayer and Shoman, (2008).
Hazard has been defined
as a real or potential situation that may cause un-intentional injuries or
deaths to people, or damage to, or loss of an item or belonging. It can be
regarded as the counterpart of safety. Therefore Hazard is a phenomenon or a
process that can endanger human being and their work environment. Hazard
associated with building construction can be from work material, equipment,
work method and practice among others. Hazard pose health and safety challenges
on construction sites and adjoining properties, workers and the general public
(Bala, et al., 2012). According to
Bala, et.al., (2012) the construction
industry is faced with numerous health and safety challenges, this is as a
result of hazards inherent in construction activities. The construction
industry has been identified with the highest occurrence rate of site hazard
compared to any other industry (Bala, et.al.,
(2012). In the recent past, death tolls permanent disability, partial disability
and some other severe environment threat had increasingly been on the rise
through collapse of building and major operational site hazard. This
unfortunate scenario has been a monumental threat to productivity and the
overall performance of the construction projects in Nigeria (Orji, 2014 cited
in OLatunji et al., 2007).
According to MacCollum
and Hugas, (2005), hazards are more than an unsafe physical condition and many
lie latent and unsuspected until they cause irrevocable harm; that is why
Hunter (2011), strongly opined that every employee be acquainted with the
provisions of the occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) in order
to understand how their actions may constitute harm or injury to them in their
workplace. Mwombeki (2005) defines site hazard as an unplanned and unexpected
occurrence, which upsets a planned sequence of work, resulting to loss of
production, injury to personnel, damage to plant and equipment and eventually
interrupting production flow. However, Solitaire (1992) defines control
measures as an act of limiting or making something to happen in a particular
way, stop something from spreading, going out of hand or getting worse.
Similarly, Bala et.al, (1999)
identify safety in construction as the process or way of protecting the health
and life of those who build, operate maintain and demolish engineering works,
and others affected by those works
In
this regard, Takala, (2005) cited in International Labour Office (I.L.O.) 2005 argues that the global number
of site hazard in the building industry is unquantifiable, due to lack of
information and also more harzardours than any other economic sector. Site
hazard on building sites, whether minor or fatal, could result to loss of
resources i.e. wastes and make the construction industry a deadly working
place. Site hazard on building sites are inevitable, but could be controlled to
prevent minor or serious consequences on the workers. Thus control measures of
site hazard to ensure safety of workers and minimize accident related waste on
sites is essential, hence the ultimate aim of this research is to minimize site
hazard occurrence and waste on sites.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The level of civilization and technological
changes has advanced the application of complex techniques to building works.
Technological changes require a corollary of manpower that is trained to
effectively respond to them. Unfortunately, another evidence shows that this is
not the case in the Nigerian building industry, as unsafe practices
characterize construction processes, leading to accident that leave severe
consequences on the project and the nation’s economy in general Hughes (2005),
1.3 Research Questions
i.
What are the causes of hazard in commercial buildings
ii.
What are the types of hazard found in
building site?
iii.
What are the effects of hazard on
commercial buildings?
iv.
What are the possible ways of reducing
site hazards in commercial buildings
1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to reduce
incidence of site accident and hazard in high rise building:
within the study area.
The objectives of the
study are:
i.
To examine the causes of hazard in commercial buildings
ii.
To investigate the types of site hazards within
the building sites
iii.
To examine the effect of site hazard on
commercial buildings
iv.
To provide possible solutions to
reducing site hazards in commercial buildings
1.5 Significance of the Study
There
are several valuable benefits expected by implementing this study. The purpose
of this study is the assessment of site hazards in commercial buildings. It can
ensure good practice of project management in an effort to common injuries that
are related to poor safety precautions. Efficient studies on managing sites
hazards can reduce the potential of accidents, injuries and illness besides it
can improve the performance and productivity of building projects. Considering
the importance of the sector to every economy and as the quest to achieve and
reduce site hazards in commercial building in Nigeria, the construction
industry requires adequate attention from all stakeholders to address the
situation of hazards and safety precautions in construction sits with the aim
of improving the health and safety conditions of the workers.
1.6 Study
Area
The study area is Ekpoma, the administrative headquarters of
Esan West Local Government Area of
Edo State, Nigeria. The area properly between latitudes 6043’ and 6045’ North of the
Equator, and longitudes 606’
and 608’ East of the Greenwich Meridian. Esan West Local Government
is made up of many quarters including Eguare, Iruekpen, Emaudo, Ujoelen,
Ihumudumu, Illeh, Uke, Uhiele, Ujemen, Ukepnu, Idoa, Ukhun, Egoro, Emuhi, Igor and Idumebo. These quarters are all considered
in this study.
The economic activities of the
people of Ekpoma are made up of agricultural and non-agricultural sector. The
agricultural sector includes crops cultivation and the rearing of animals. The
industrial sector of the study area is made up of both agro-based and non-agro
based industries.
Esan West Local Government has
approximately 125,842 inhabitants with 63,785 males and 62,057 females in the
Census Report (2006). It has an area of 502 km². The population of the area is made
up of both indigenes and non-indigenes (Okojie 1994 and Omofonmwan, 2006). The
indigenes are the Ekpoma people while the non-indigenes are the immigrants who
are either students or workers in Ambrose Alli University (A.A.U) Ekpoma. Other
are those employed by other industrial sector, agricultural sector, religious
sector and those that are involve in the marketing of both industrial and
non-industrial products in the area.
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