Assessment of persistent incidents towards improving site specific health and safety management in Tanzania the case of building construction sites in Dar es Salaam

Occupational safety and health incidents including occupational accidents, injuries and diseases are one of the major challenges in the Tanzanian construction industry. This research study was designed to investigate the occupational safety and health incidents in order to improve site-specific health and safety management in the construction sites in Tanzania and Dar es Salaam was taken as a case study. Data was collected through questionnaires, interviews and observation methods from 12 selected construction sites in Dar es Salaam region, and a total of 72 respondents participated. Both simple random and purposive sampling were used. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyze the research data. The research findings indicate that, the level of persistence of OSH incidents is very high in the construction sites surveyed, and also that, falling off roofs and walls, eruption of the diseases, falling of scaffolds, electricity shocks, plant and machine failures, and traumatized by sharp tools are common types of OSH incidents in the construction sites. The factors for persistence of these OSH incidents are lack of safety and protective gears and facilities, ignorance of workers, poor OSH supervision and inspection, lack of effective OSH plans and trainings. This research study suggests effective OSH plans and interventions to be taken in the construction industry, and further studies are recommended in order to understand other aspects of OSH in the construction industry as well as in other social and economic sectors in Tanzania