Construction health and safety performance in developing and developed countries : a parallel study in South Africa and Singapore

According to relevant literature, the difference in accident rates between developed and developing countries is remarkable. This disparity of construction health and safety performance between developing and developed countries prompted the research team to examine the underlying causes for such a disparity. This study was initiated by the Southern African Built Environment Research Center to examine (1) the construction health and safety practices adopted by construction practitioners in both developing and developed countries, and (2) the sources of the disparity of construction health and safety performance between developing and developed countries. To achieve these aims, parallel surveys were conducted in South Africa (SA) and Singapore. Singapore was chosen because of its improved health and safety performance and the recent review of its health and safety regulatory framework. The results show that there are significant differences both in people's perceptions of construction site health and safety and in the frequency of various types of accidents between the two nations. The findings of this study have practical impacts on enhancing health and safety performances for developing countries. It is timely to ascertain the disparity of construction health and safety performance between SA and Singapore given that the construction regulations of SA are currently under review so as to achieve improved health and safety performances.