Assessing the Impact of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on Health and Safety Risk Perception in Construction Sites in Nandom District

ABSTRACT

This research was aimed at assessing the impact of personal protective equipment on health and safety performance in construction site in Nandom District. The study based on an empirical study to focus on the core objectives; type of PPEs are provided by construction firms for site operations, health and safety measures are used at construction sites and the influence of PPEs on health and safety performance. This study employed case study as its research design with quantitative strategy to purposively sampled 40 construction site operatives of Duuru construction firm, Nandom-Upper West Region. The following were the major findings of the study; The study found expert opinion on personal protective equipment (PPE) use at the construction site. The research findings revealed operative participates in health and safety training, number of times an operative is involved in an accident, Enforcement of the requirement to wear PPE on site, management’s commitment to health and safety issues, senior staff’s exemplary attitudes in the use of PPE and provision of incentives for use of PPE by workers as factors influencing their use of personal protective equipment (PPE) at construction site. The study suggested that construction sites should be well equipped with personal protective equipment, reminder notices should be placed at all sites to constantly remind workers to use PPEs before start of work, training centers should enforce the use of PPEs to trainees, in- service training should be made available to constantly workers need for the use of PPEs at construction site motivate personnel who use PPEs often at site, punishment should be meted out to those who do not use PPES at site, workers using PPEs regularly should be motivated, regular training should be given to personnel’s of site and law enforcement agencies should always visit construction site regularly.