Dissertation: Safety Training Practices in UK and South Africa

This report is a comparative analysis of safety training practices in the United Kingdom and South Africa, focusing on how the UK's established safety protocols can improve construction functioning in South Africa. The report explores the importance of safety training, identifies key drivers of safety, examines the roles of contractors and subcontractors, and evaluates the significance of physical and safety environments for workers. It also analyzes UK laws that could be implemented in South Africa to enhance building site safety. The methodology includes literature review, and data analysis. The report concludes with recommendations for improving safety training and construction practices in underdeveloped areas, drawing on the UK's experience to enhance South Africa's construction industry. The dissertation covers various aspects of the construction industry and the importance of safety training for workers. The report aims to identify the significance of safety training practices in the UK and how they can be implemented in underdeveloped areas like South Africa. The report also highlights the importance of various safety training practices such as safety compliance, workplace hazards, and accident prevention in the construction industry.

Comparison of safety training practices of South
Africa and UK to bring changes upto the optimum
level in underdeveloped area
1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Main purpose of this dissertation is to identify the importance of safety training practices of
United Kingdom towards improvement of functioning in underdeveloped areas i.e. South Africa.
This is a main purpose behind conducting this dissertation. There are various activities used by
researcher for completing this dissertation in successful manner. In literature review, researcher
has been gathered data from articles, books etc. sources. These sources helped for investigator in
attaining of research aim and objectives through research questions. In research methodology,
different types of methodologies were used i.e. deductive approach, positivism philosophy,
quantitative research choice, survey strategy, cross-sectional time horizon, questionnaire as a
research instrument etc. These are major types of methodologies used for achieving aim and each
objective successfully. Data analysis has been done by using frequency distribution analysis,
which is an analytical technique. Discussion was done by discussing secondary information
gathered for literature review. Conclusion and recommendations have been completed by
explaining information about the entire chapters in clear and systematic manner. In
recommendations, some main suggestions have been given for business or country to improve
few areas that are identified from the findings. Therefore, with the help of all activities or
chapters, research aim and objectives have been achieved successfully.
2

Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................................8
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...........................................................................19
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION..............................................................25
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................44
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................47
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................50
Questionnaire.............................................................................................................................50
3

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Overview of the topic
Training is the act of increasing skills and knowledge of an employee for executing the job
allotted to them. Along with this, construction project is a type of project and organised process
of renovating, constructing and refurbishing a building. This dissertation is based on United
Kingdom, which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, is an island
nation in north-western Europe. Safety training is essential for construction workers. There is a
big deal of work hazards on a building site. Safety training is important to prevent an increase in
worker fatalities and accidents (Xu, Zhang and Hou, 2019). Training for construction safety is
significant to avoid serious injuries within construction or building related hazards. Safety
training is important for an organisation because this will help them in securing their employees
at building site. There are different approaches that are essential in reducing workplace accidents
and making building site safety. These are awareness, training, communication, innovation,
documentation, transparency, proper equipment, transparency etc. There are various ways for
developing safety training program such as creating safety and health as a core value, implement
a reporting system, conduct inspections, collect hazard control ideas etc.
Safety training practices are important for underdeveloped area i.e. South Africa by
improving their functioning. There are several safety training practices that helped in
improvement of functioning within underdeveloped areas. These are safety compliance, safety
practices, workplace hazards, personal protective equipment, accident prevention and safety
promotion and many others. These are main practices that help in reduction of workplace
accidents.
It’s no secret that construction industry of the South Africa is struggling. Since 2017, it has
been on a steady decline. In year 2019 alone, the value of industry shrunk by 3.3%. There are
number of decline causes within South Africa (2021 Outlook for the South African Construction
Industry, 2021). These are depressed economy, rising cost of materials reduced government
infrastructure spending, less foreign investment because of ratings downgrades, lack of safety
training etc. These are major causes that negatively impact on South African construction
industry in year 2020. There are various ways that are effective in improving construction
functioning within South Africa. These are automation, safety training, innovative materials, new
technologies etc.
4

The construction industry is one of the largest in the United Kingdom economy –
employing around 3.1 million people or over 9% of the workforce (UK construction industry,
2021). In UK, there are various lows and regulations regarding health and safety that are
essential for construction industry in protecting of their workers from any accidents and hazards
at sites.
Therefore, as comparison of South Africa, UK is a developed country. This is beneficial
for South African in enhancing of their construction functioning smoothly and successfully.
Aim of the dissertation
Aim is an important part of dissertation because without this, it is not possible for
researcher to complete full dissertation effectively. Aim of the dissertation is total based on title
that help investigator in executing of each activity in systematic manner. Along with this,
research aim expresses the aspiration or an intention of the research. Therefore, Main aim of this
dissertation is:
“To identify the significance of safety training practices of UK towards improvement of
functioning in underdeveloped areas. A study on South Africa
Objectives of the dissertation
Research objectives within a dissertation are concise, clear and declarative statement that
provides a direction to study the variables under the investigation. Research objectives of the
study are based on research aim. Research objectives are basically made with the help of
dependent and independent variable (Vignoli and et. al., 2021). According to the existing title
improvement of functioning in underdeveloped areas is independent variable because it is
completely dependent on the significance of safety training practices of UK. Therefore,
according to the research aim, there are some objectives that are shown as below:
 To identify the importance of UK safety training practices towards improvement of
overall construction functioning in South Africa.
 To determine the main liabilities of UK contractors and subcontractors in improving
safety of workers at building site of South Africa.
 To explore fundamental drivers of safety existing in UK that would be used by
construction industry of underdeveloped country like South Africa.
 To examine basic need of effective physical environment and safety environment for
workers at building site in South Africa.
5

 To evaluate various UK laws that would be implemented by the construction industry of
South Africa for the purpose of making building site safer.
Questions of the dissertation
Developing research questions are important because it facilitate investigator in achieving of
research aim and objectives in successful manner. Research questions within a dissertation are
fundamental core of a research study or review of literature. Therefore, there are some main
questions of the research that are shown as below:
 What is the importance of UK safety training practices towards improvement of overall
construction functioning in South Africa?
 What are the main liabilities of UK contractors and subcontractors in improving safety of
workers at building site of South Africa?
 What are the fundamental drivers of safety existing in UK that would be used by
construction industry of underdeveloped country like South Africa?
 What is the basic need of effective physical environment and safety environment for
workers at building site in South Africa?
 What are the various UK laws that would be implemented by the construction industry of
South Africa for the purpose of making building site safer?
Rationale of the Dissertation
The Main rationale behind selecting this project is to identify the issues faced by workers
at construction site. This is one of the main reasons behind doing current dissertation. The main
reason behind the selection of current topic is that support in fulfilment of personal and
professional perspective. In regards of personal, this assist in determination of the activities that
are effective in nature towards development of construction site in more safely (Bhandari,
Hallowell and Correll, 2019). This research aid researcher by improving their research skills that
are communication, time management, data collection and many more. Improvement of these
skills help investigator in completion of full dissertation within allotted time and successful
manner. At professional level, this research helps investigator in increasing their understanding
about the importance of safety training at construction site.
Structure of the dissertation
6

This is important part of the dissertation because it helps reader in identification of the
structure of report. There are different activities that will be require in completing full
dissertation systematically. All these activities are defining as below:
Chapter 1: Introduction: This chapter included background and rationale of research,
aim, objectives and questions of the dissertation. All these are important activities that will helps
investigator in completion of this chapter successfully. This chapter will help in conducting of
next activity in systematic manner.
Chapter 2: Literature Review: This chapter is based on secondary data that will be
gathered from books, articles and many other secondary sources relevant to the topic. This
chapter helps investigator in fulfilling of research gap in systematic manner that turn to impact in
achievement of each objective successfully.
Chapter 3: Research methodology: Under this chapter, there are different types of
methodologies that will be going to use by researcher (Eggerth and et. al., 2018). These are
positivism philosophy, deductive approach, quantitative research choice, primary and secondary
method, survey, questionnaire, probability sampling etc. Main purpose of all these
methodologies is to collect quantitative information and get valid outcomes in less period of
time.
Chapter 4: Data analysis and interpretation: This chapter helps investigator in
evaluating of information about the topic. In accordance to the current project, frequency
distribution analysis will be going to apply by researcher with purpose of analysing quantitative
data. This technique involves frequency table along with the number of respondents (Feng and
Trinh, 2019).
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation: This is a last activity of dissertation that
helps reader in identifying of the achievement of aim and objectives (Buniya and et. al., 2021). In
recommendation, some suggestions will be given for improving the information about title.
Therefore, introduction chapter is an important section of dissertation as it helps in
conducting of another activities or chapters in systematic manner. With the help of this chapter,
researcher is developed aim, objectives and questions that are required for executing another
activities i.e. literature review, research methodology, data analysing etc.
7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review refers to the process followed by researcher for collecting secondary data
from various sources i.e. books, articles, journals, magazines, publication research and many
more. All these are major sources that will helps investigator in gathering of secondary
information regarding the topic. Main purpose of literature review is to identify the research gap
in current study. Main gap within existing topic is to identify the significance of safety training
in building projects (Tilt and et. al., 2020). In previous studies, there were lots of information
available regarding the significance of safety training at workplace, but there were missing
information about the importance of safety training in building project. This is a main gap and
for addressing this, research questions will be explained as under:
What is the importance of UK safety training practices towards improvement of overall
construction functioning in South Africa?
According to the Buniya and et. al., (2021), safety training at workplace is important for
an organisation as well as their employees. It enables the business management to ensure a
healthy and safe working environment. This also facilitates the workers to recognise safety risks
and correct them. It empowers them to know best practices and expectations about the workplace
safety. There are different types of safety trainings exist in UK such as workplace ergonomics,
fire safety, workplace violence prevention, employee health resources, environmental safety,
equipment safety online safety and cyber security. All these are main type of safety trainings that
will be essential in building project towards improvement of overall functioning in the
underdeveloped areas like South Africa.
As per the view presented by Abbasianjahromi, Golafshani and Aghakarimi (2021),
building project means any physical activity on the place involved within the erection of a
building. It means furnishing labour, material, equipment or supplies consumed or used for the
construction, design, renovation, alternation, maintenance or repair of a structure or building.
Construction of building does not include roads, highways, bridges, turnpikes, dams or related
structure. Construction is a very diverse sector that covers activities ranging from quarrying,
forestry and mining to the construction of buildings and infrastructure. There are different factors
leading to high rate of accidents in building industry of South Africa. These are Lack of training
and awareness, operating equipment without safety devices, harsh work operation, poor workers’
attitudes towards safety etc. These are major factors that increase accident within construction
8

industry of South Africa. Therefore, safety training is important for securing workplace. There
are some safety training practices that played important role towards improvement of overall
construction functioning in South Africa. These are explained as below:
Provides specific and practical information regarding hazards and how to perform work
safely: Bhagwat, Kumar and Delhi (2021) states that this is the responsibility of construction
manager to provide accurate information about the hazards to their all workers. This is important
and necessary for making safe and secure workplace. This turn to impact in reduction of
accidents at construction sites.
Communicate all information in a language and by methods understandable to each
and every worker: Numerous working environments have workers whose first language isn't
English. Because training related to the safety frequently incudes highly technical and
specialised information, employees whose knowledge of English is less than fluent can run into
communication issues that did not affect them throughout the hiring process.
Relates directly to the work being done by employees: This is an important safety
practice that would help construction manager in making of sites safe and secure. Employees are
well known about their work and practise. For this they only need training that is essential in
completion of construction project effectively.
Along with this, above mentioned, all these are main safety practices that has some
benefits towards improvement in construction industry of South Africa are explained below:
Statistically and less accidents: Safety training helps workers by increasing satisfaction
regarding the work (Dai and et. al., 2021). It is proven in valid survey that safety trainings assist
in decreasing the numbers of fewer accidents because in safety training various ways and
methods are explained and adopted so that employees can be saved and secured from accidents
in building projects.
Increased efficiency and productivity: Safety trainings are the sessions and programs
which gives importance to the safety of workers (Akinshipe and et. al., 2021). It helps increasing
and improving the efficiency and productivity of workers because employees would generate a
feeling that they are safe while doing or performing their assigned job role and responsibility.
Improves employee morale: Safety training are basically organised with the main
motive of providing security to the worker while doing their work. When workers attend such
9

type of trainings then they increase their level of morale because these workers start think they
are being valued and important for construction industry for achieving their targets.
Less time: When workers are given effective and efficient safety trainings they would
generate a feeling of safety and would do work without becoming stressed. When workers do
their work without being occupied with stress then this will increase their efficiency of
performing their job roles and do their work before the deadline.
What are the main liabilities of UK contractors and subcontractors in improving safety of
workers at building site of South Africa?
According to the Trillo-Cabello, Carrillo-Castrillo and Rubio-Romero (2021),
Contractors and subcontractors is the people who continuously make efforts for the workers so
that they can remain safe and secure at construction places and locations. This is so because
workers are necessary to carry out the activities related to construction. All the below mentioned
responsibilities of UK contractors and Sub contracts are needed to be followed in the
construction industry of South Africa so they also able to gain similar nature of effective
working environment. All responsibilities are defined below;
Some of the responsibilities of UK contractors are:
 Contractor makes the rules and regulations which provides safe and secure workplace for
workers so that prevention can be done from injuries, damages and loss to worker.
 Contractors are responsible for making assumptions regarding the programs and
precautions related to the health and safety of workers which would benefit workforce in
future.
 Contractors are the individuals who provide guidance time to time so that communication
can be done properly and safety can be addressed for employees (Oh and et. al., 2021).
This type of guidance makes contractors to aware about the present condition related to
damages and injuries.
 Contractors have the duty to check machines, equipment’s and technology because there
are more chances of accidents related to these machines to workers. Workers are
appointed to work with the installed machines and when machine gets damaged, there are
more chances of workers to get injured. So contractors make sure that every machine is
working properly and are latest or advance.
10

 Contractors organise and arrange different sessions of safety trainings time to time
because these trainings make workers learn how to prevent accidents and damages. And
how to act on accidents when happened in the environment of workplace (Østrem and
Sommer, 2021).
 Contractors make sure that every safety process is clearly communicated to the
subcontractors because it is mandatory to make sub-contractors learn about the safety
process as they communicate with the workers.
 Contractors have the responsibility to assure that worker safety trainings are completed
by following all the predefined rules and guidelines.
Some of the responsibilities of UK sub-contractors are:
 Sub-contractors are liable to follow all the rules and regulations made by contractors;
they make sure that every rule is followed by workers so that safety and health of workers
can be kept on priority basis.
 Sub-contractors have the responsibility to check and examine the worksite so that if any
danger sign is seen then proper measures can be taken and chances of damages can be
decreased.
 Li and et. al., (2021), states that sub-contractors are the people who have direct contact
and communication with the workers, so they clearly ask opinions of workers related to
the safety trainings and when workers tell about some changes then these subcontractors
convey such changes and ideas to contractors.
 Sub-contractors make sure that workers working in construction have emotional, mental
and physical ability to do activities and tasks effectively, in such a way workers do not
get threatened related to health and safety by doing undesired work.
 Subcontractors have the duty to inform contractors and upper level authority about any
misshapen, accidents and injuries. Timely conveying incidents help in taking instant
measures so that these injuries can be prevented and reduced.
What are the fundamental drivers of safety existing in UK that would be used by construction
industry of underdeveloped country like South Africa?
As per the view presented by Su and et. al., (2021), Construction Sector is one of the integral
part of infrastructure development that boosts the Economy of underdeveloped areas. There are
11

various Fundamentals drivers of UK that must be used by construction Industry of South Africa
such as;
Training is one of the fundamental drivers that must be used by Construction Industry of
South Africa. By Providing training to employees their knowledge and skills get improved
related to the use of machinery and equipment’s. According to the Hou and et. al., (2021), The
Occupational Health and Safety Administration provide resources to businesses for providing
training to labours on standard safety and security practices which includes training videos,
pamphlets and on-site training opportunities. To enhance the knowledge an employee must
attend training sessions which is provided by Construction Company. With the help of training
an individual gets to know about fall protection, implication of using machines and proper use of
ladders. The goals of construction Company is to make their employees adequately trained. If
Employees does not attend the training process, they can get injured or killed due to lack of
knowledge.
Workplace environment must be appropriate and good which ensures the safety and Health
of Employees in Workplace. As per the view presented by Panwar and Jha, (2021), In an
Organisation, there are various Occupational Safety and Health risk that creates an unsafe
working conditions and put the workplace area into dangerous environmental Hazards. If,
construction industry manages the safety drivers, they will get various benefits such as it helps in
promoting the wellness of workers who are working in an Industry. In an Organisation if there
are proper safety measures there is less chances of accidents in workplace. This helps company
to reduce the cost for compensating employees and also helps in reducing time for safety
investigations.
Workplace environment must be appropriate and good which ensures the safety and Health
of Employees in Workplace. As per the view presented by Panwar and Jha, (2021), In an
Organisation, there are various Occupational Safety and Health risk that creates an unsafe
working conditions and put the workplace area into dangerous environmental Hazards. If,
construction industry manages the safety drivers, they will get various benefits such as it helps in
promoting the wellness of workers who are working in an Industry. In an Organisation if there
are proper safety measures there is less chances of accidents in workplace. This helps company
to reduce the cost for compensating employees and also helps in reducing time for safety
investigations.
12