The Influence of Project Managers on Construction Health and Safety in South Africa

Abstract

The paper reports on a study which investigates the influence of project managers (PMs),independent agents engaged by clients to manage and co-ordinate the design and constructionprocesses, on construction health and safety (H&S).Based upon a literature review and descriptive survey of PMs, the study determined thatPMs prioritise the traditional project parameters of cost, quality and time, consider andrefer to H&S more frequently during construction, than during procurement and designrelated occasions, generally consider and refer to H&S relative to various design relatedactivities, encounter design and procurement related situations which negatively affectH&S more frequently than situations which complement H&S. It also found that the potentialexists for various design, procurement and related aspects and actions to contribute toan improvement in H&S performance, and inadequate H&S negatively impacts on otherproject parameters and increases project risk.