IDENTIFYING THE MAJOR CAUSES OF WORK-RELATED INJURIES IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS THE CASE OF RAMA CONSTRUCTION P.L.C

Abstract

Construction industry in Ethiopia is growing rapidly while safety in the construction projects is very poor. For a construction project to be successful, safety is utmost importance. The objective of this research is to identify the major causes of work-related injuries in construction projects in Ethiopia particularly for the case of projects Rama Construction Plc. Accordingly, survey research design was used to accomplish the objective of the study. Mainly a five point Likert scale questionnaire was distributed to construction and safety departments in the company to identify the major causes of work-related injuries. The data was analyzed using quantitatively descriptive statistics Microsoft Excel and SPSS. Consequently, the study results show that “workers’ negligence”, “inappropriate use of personal protective equipment’s”, and “insufficient and unsuitable scaffoldings” were the three major factors of work-related injuries among the 37 identified factors. In addition to this, the study finds that the major causes of work-related injuries in the construction company were causes related to human element and unsafe working methods. Moreover, in the construction company, the major work-related injuries were associated with employees rather than employer. Finally, the study recommended that training needed to be provided frequently to all level of workers on construction safety which is going to be helpful towards reducing its occurrence.