Limiting reasons for use of personal protective equipment among construction workers: Case studies in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The Sri Lankan construction industry offers substantial employment opportunities and contributes significantly to national economic growth, but it is also plagued by unacceptably high rates of injuries and fatalities, especially among SME construction organisations. Existing literature disclosed that 90% of construction accidents in Sri Lanka are occurred due to unsafe behaviours of workers where the non-usage of personal protective equipment is prominent. Despite the abundance of research on construction safety, a gap in literature could be identified, when it comes to exploring the reasons behind the non-usage of PPE by construction workers in Sri Lanka. Therefore, this paper aimed to bridge the gap that exists in the existing literature. An exploratory case study was selected as the research strategy to achieve the research aim. Two SME construction projects were selected as cases. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted in both cases with managerial and worker levels personnel. Data analysis was carried out using code-based content analysis. Findings were derived under three main categories, namely, ‘individual’, ‘organisational’, and ‘environmental’. Altogether 18 reasons including 09 reasons under the ‘individual’ category (refer Codes InC/R1 – InC/R9), another 08 reasons under the ‘organisational’ category (refer Codes OrC/R1-OrC/R8), and 01 reason under the ‘environmental’ category (refer Code EnC/R1) were identified in this study. The analysis of these reasons generated knowledge, which can be used by respective industrial safety practitioners in Sri Lanka in understanding the current situation and as a way forward for enhancing the use of PPE among construction workers.