To ensure health and safety management practices of construction firms meet the demands of oil and gas construction projects, it was important to ensure such practices were tailored to meet the needs of oil and gas construction projects. Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which the practices in their companies were tailored to meet the needs of oil and gas construction projects. The results shown in Figure 6.15 indicate that as many as 31% of the respondents worked for companies that were extremely effective at tailoring their health and safety practices to meet the demands of oil and gas construction projects. 37.7% also indicated that their companies were very effective at doing this whereas 23.6% indicated that their companies were fairly effective at tailoring their practices to meet the demands of oil and gas construction projects. The remaining 7.5% of the respondents indicated that their companies were either slightly effective or not effective at all. This indicates that, on the average, the majority of the respondents worked for companies that were effective at tailoring their practices to meet the demands of oil and gas construction projects.
177
Figure 6.15: Tailoring of practices to meet the demands of oil and gas construction projects
As seen from Figure 6.15 the companies who took part in this research tailored their practices to meet the demands of oil and gas construction projects. This was beneficial as Panuwatwanich (2011), Berends (2007) all report that the nature of safety concerns on oil and gas projects were different from that of safety concerns for normal construction projects. This makes tailoring of practices to suit the demands of oil and gas construction projects very appropriate
6.5.5 Influence of Measures in Achieving Health and Safety on Oil and Gas Projects
The respondents were then asked to indicate the extent to which the measures adopted in their companies were influential in achieving safety on oil and gas construction projects. The
Not at all effective, 2
Slightly effective, 5.5 Fairly effective, 23.6 Very effective, 37.7 Extremely effective, 31.2 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Not at all effective Slightly effective Fairly effective Very effective Extremely effective
P er ce nt ag e (% ) of res pondent s Extent of effectiveness
Tailoring of practices to meet the demands of oil and gas
porjects
178 measures identified includes: the provision of PPE to site teams, planning and monitoring of H&S implementation, practices towards improving awareness of site teams, periodic investigation of hazards and malfunctioning machinery, commitment to health and safety measures, keeping in touch with updated policies, improved collaboration between employees and management, seminars on health and safety, and involvement of site teams in developing safety measures and policies. The results indicate that about 38% of the respondents found the measures adopted by their companies to be extremely influential whereas 37% found the measures to be influential. This indicates that at least 75% of the respondents found the measures adopted in their companies to be influential compared to the remaining 25% who found the measures to be only slightly influential or somewhat influential.
Figure 6.16: Influence of measures in achieving health and safety on oil and gas projects
Slightly influential, 5.1 Somewhat influential, 20.2 Influential, 36.9 Extremely influential, 37.9 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Slightly influential Somewhat influential Influential Extremely influential
P er ce nt ag e (% ) of res pondent s Extent of influence
179 The essence of designing policies and measures for health and safety is to influence the culture and practices within construction firms to encourage better safety outcomes. The results of this research provides evidence that the measures put in place by the construction companies to are influential to a very high extent.
6.5.6 Familiarity with Health and Safety Policies
The respondents were asked to indicate how familiar they were with health and safety measures in their companies. The results indicate that about 69% of the respondents were either extremely or moderately familiar with the health and safety measures of their companies. The remaining 30% indicated that they were somewhat familiar or slightly familiar with health and safety management measures of their companies. Only 1% of the respondents indicated that they were not familiar at all with the health and safety measures of their companies. This is shown in Figure 6.17.
180
Figure 6.17: Familiarity with Health and Safety Policies
To encourage better performance on construction projects, employees on construction projects should be familiar with the measures designed by their companies to ensure their safety. This research finding indicates that majority of the respondents were familiar with the policies required to keep them safe. In the literature, Hallowell (2012), Oloke et al (2007), and Saleh and Ramadan, (2011)_all report that the increase in accidents on construction sites are as a result of lack of knowledge of safety management practices. The high level of awareness of awareness familiarity with safety policies is a step in the right direction in improving health and safety.