Assessing General Safety Management And The Risk Of Fall From Height In Chinese Construction Companies In Africa

With the rapidly growing population in Africa and an outstanding rate of increase in urban population that is expected to reach 56% of the total African population by 2050,a rising trend of investments in infrastructure development is slowly creeping in most African countries in order to cater for the growing demand.Safety in high-rise building construction being a major concern as cities are expanding to levels never imagined before.The research basically includes a general safety assessment of Chinese construction companies operating in high-rise building construction in Africa and how they handle the risk of fall from height,as it is the major problem leading to death and injuries in construction.More than 70% of the largest projects on the continent of Africa are under Chinese contractors.China has made great investments in infrastructure development by lashing loans with the most recent being worth over 60 billion dollars to the continent.The research focuses on outlining the safety challenges that the local African workers face while working in Chinese construction companies.Besides that it also discusses the issues faced by Chinese contractors that limit them from efficiently implementing proper or advanced safety practices to create safer working environments.The research also compares safety in local contractors and Chinese contractors by surveying from local workers who have worked with both parties and government officials responsible for monitoring occupational health and safety which would enable a thorough understanding of the grey areas or gaps so as to improve safety conditions on site.In addition an investigation of the key safety risks on site has been done which pin points working at height or the risk of fall from height as the major safety challenge faced.Some of the key findings include the difference in work culture between the locals and the Chinese,how corruption influences safety conditions on site,direct and indirect causes of fall from height as well as the influence of logistics,education and government policies on general safety performance.The research is exhibited qualitatively though interviews with practitioners and quantitatively through questionnaire approach to enable efficient analysis of discussion of the research objectives as well as the key findings.