The effects of safety on the productivity at construction sites: the case of Uganda's construction industry

This dissertation analyzed the effects of safety on productivity at Uganda's Construction sites, with specific emphasis on analysis of the effects of job size on productivity, analysis of the Productive labor yield for workers at each construction site, studying the Utilization of on-site worker's time, analysis of different construction processes at the various sites. Specific emphasis being put on the safety of each process and developing a Construction process simulation model. Two construction companies were analyzed, and a total of five construction sites in Uganda thoroughly studied to provide data for this research. Data Envelopment analysis, Productivity trend studies, and labor site productivity yield were used to analyze information from the visited sites. The research observed that safety is a major player in affecting profitability, which in turn affects productivity at any construction site. It was therefore established further, that in order to improve productivity in construction, safety is of paramount importance. However, for the case of the sites visited in Uganda, there was a lot of ignorance of these facts, safety practices were very poor or lacking, and training in the same was found to be of urgency. The research recommended a simulation model for productivity improvement, which involves thorough investigation of work practices at each site, training for all workers in safety, provision for safety in the procurement processes, provision of proper safety tools in construction, provision of on-job training in safety for all safety-illiterate workers, vetting of construction materials and safety of equipment for use on construction sites. Lastly, further research was recommended, with more sites and more in-depth coverage emphasized, to ensure that a more general and accurate figure for productivity yield is found for Uganda.