Study of safety practice at construction site in Afghanistan

Abstract

The importance of a safe construction strategy at Afghanistan building sites is not an overstatement. It plays a critical role on project delivery timeliness. Although good construction safety management is vital, the literature reveals that safety lacks serious attention in the Afghanistan construction industry. As a result, the goal of this study was to evaluate safety practices in building construction sites in Kabul. Its objectives include determining the current safety practices at construction sites, investigating the level of safety performance in the construction industry, identifying the types of accidents that occur in the industry in Afghanistan, and identifying areas which can improve safety practices. The survey questionnaire and case study were used to obtain data. A total of 55 questions were asked from 120 contractors, with 12 building companies’ construction sites in Kabul targeted. However, only 52 individuals responded to the survey. The quantitative descriptive statistics in Microsoft Excel and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) were used to analyse the data. The findings show that Kabul’s safety practices in building construction sites fall short of expectations, as the current safety practices in Afghanistan’s construction industry is deplorable. Most of the companies do not practice effective safety management, and although the majority of contractors are informed and aware of safety concerns, they do not apply safety practices in building construction. This is due to the lack of upper management control and monitoring. The absence of any safety training as well as policy is absent in some companies. Similarly, meetings held at construction sites rarely touched upon the matter of safety. This study further finds that the effect of the natural environment, illiteracy, and a lack of skilled labour on safety and three other vital aspects influence safety performance throughout construction. Additionally, the study identifies the types of accidents in construction sites. They are deaths, permanent inability, partial inability, and light injury. The result shows partial inability recording the highest percentage of calamity in construction sites by 69.2%. This is attributed to the lack of safety training, lack of skilled labour, lack of the employment or presence of a safety officer, lack of safety policies, lack of personal protective equipment, and lack of experience in using the equipment. Therefore, practical safety training, allocating funds for safety management, and imposing penalties on workers who violate safety rules and regulations are the suggested measures to improve safety in construction sites in Afghanistan.