Construction Practitioners’ Perception of Construction Site Safety Performance in Ghana

Abstract There are significant literature gaps in Ghana's construction sector regarding safety performance, worker satisfaction levels, and safety performance challenges, needing a more extensive and mixed-methods study. Hence, the study adopted a mixed-methods approach in studying the construction sites practitioners’ perception across 79 sites in five regions by evaluating 534 surveys and 36 interviews through descriptive and inferential analysis and thematic analysis, respectively. The findings revealed that construction project sites have a generally positive safety culture, with a strong emphasis on reducing accidents and injuries. Despite acknowledging areas for improvement, respondents expressed great satisfaction with safety performance, key factors being motivation, compliance, worker participation, and management. A variety of safety performance challenges were raised: leadership commitment, communication barriers, PPE management, compliance, operational welfare, and regulatory challenges. The Kruskal-Wallis test revealed significant differences in perceptions of some of the safety performance and satisfaction metrics, suggesting the need to consider multiple occupational perspectives when evaluating safety performance and satisfaction. The study proposes all-encompassing approaches to enhance construction safety in Ghana, including educational initiatives, legislative changes, and doable actions like frequent safety audits and incident reporting. Reliance on self-reported data, restricted geographic coverage, and a limited focus on safety performance are among the limitations, underscoring the necessity of more research to fill up these gaps. With useful insights for contractors, lawmakers, and stakeholders, this study advances knowledge of safety performance in Ghana's construction industry.