A Rating-based framework for health and safety management in the Sri Lankan construction industry

Abstract

Sri Lankan safety and health regulators set safety goals, and construction companies frequently archive them. However, Sri Lankan health and safety records look appalling. It is evident that there exists an information gap when it comes to communicating the functionality of a construction company’s health and safety management. This research suggests a solution in the form of a ranking-based evaluation on the health and safety management system. The standard model of Sathyanarayanan Rajendran’s Sustainable Construction Safety and Health (SCSH) Rating System was used as the prototype. A literature review was conducted to investigate each element of the system and, also to identify the effectiveness of those components. Expert interviews and a questionnaire survey were done to convert the prototype into the Sri Lankan context and to evaluate the importance of every element. The Battelle method was used to prepare the questionnaire survey and to analyze the collected data. A system comprised of 14 components was formed and the elements corresponding to managerial health and safety commitment, training and education and safety and health planning received the highest weightage. These components give a higher contribution to society; therefore, the Contractor can get higher value in the industry and be prominent in other competitors as well and all stakeholders are interest parties to the Contractor.