Health, safety and welfare standards of employees in the Sri Lankan construction industry

Abstract

Construction industry could be identified as one of the major employment opportunity providing sectors in the world wide. Due to larger operational time and use of large force of labour and machineries, risk is predominant in the construction industry. Many fatal accidents have been occurred during the project. Construction accidents are common in the Sri Lankan construction industry. Most prevailing reason in Sri Lanka when considering about the health, safety and welfare of the construction industry, could be identified as the improper safety culture. Furthermore, current Sri Lankan law do not comply with the present needs and they have become outdated. Aim of this research is to uplift the health, safety and welfare (HS&W) standards of employees and make recommendations for effective development of construction industry. Current situation of HS&W of construction industry of Sri Lanka is identified using of expert survey research approach under quantitative research approach. Factors contributing for the HS&W issues are examined and factors are properly ranked during the research. Then recommendations have been provided to mitigate factors. Furthermore, loopholes of current Sri Lankan Laws are identified. Overall expectation from the properly established health, safety and welfare culture is to uplift the working standards of the employer in a safe working environment. The extent of contribution from the government to achieve this expectation is well addressed through the research findings. Here amendments to be made for the out dated Sri Lankan legislation are elaborated through the findings. Contributions from the organizations to succeed the targets are also depicted.