Awareness of Occupational Safety and Health Issues on Roadway Maintenance Works in Nyeri County, Kenya

The nature of the construction industry combined with the required physical demands and rigorous work processes, make it an industry that faces several safety and health issues and thus higher risk of ill health, injury or fatality. Many road maintenance operations are potentially dangerous both to the maintenance workers and to the road users. This research work aimed at finding out the level of awareness of occupational safety and health issues in roadway maintenance works among road contractors. Questionnaires were administered to 122 contractor workers of ongoing class A, B and C road maintenance projects in Nyeri county during the data collection phase. Thereafter, the data was analysed using SPSS software, descriptive and inferential statistical analysis were carried out, data was presented in various forms and finally conclusions and recommendations were drawn. The targeted outcome of this research was that the results will provide important information that is the first step necessary to ensure that safety and health which is a legal requirement is observed at every workplace. The study has established that half (50%) of the site agents agreed that Crew sizes need to be increased to accommodate lookout personnel and to improve quality of work. However an equal number (50%) was undecided. The findings of this study contradict with the provisions of OSHA, 2007 which states that there should be creation of a safe culture at work places through education and training in OSH. 67% of the respondents disagree to have previously received any training on OSH. In this study, male staff were found to know more about OSH issues than their female counterparts. Age had a strong positive correlation (r=0.64, p=0.00) with OSH awareness at 95% confidence levels. This study recommends that follow-up be done to ensure at least one employee for every contractor who will be responsible for OSH. Contractors/ site agents should also ensure that all new employees are inducted on safety and that OSH trainings are carried out periodically.