Construction public client health and safety culture in Botswana: a pilot study

Abstract

This paper presents the preliminary findings of an exploratory pilot study into the health and safety culture of a public sector client in Botswana with a view to identifying aspects to be included in a larger broad-based national survey. Design' Methodology 'approach Structured interviews were conducted with project managers from two major public client organisations in order to explore clients' commitment to H&S, allocation of resources in terms of H&S, and whether clients were leading by example on H&S. Findings: The pilot study found that prima facie the H&S safety culture of the two public clients was not strong when compared against the expected elements of a good H&S culture. Limitations: The survey was only conducted in two major public clients and interviews were only conducted with senior project managers and so the results may not be generalised to all public clients in Botswana. Further, only a few selected elements of the many suggested characteristics of H&S culture were assessed in the study. Originality' value of this paper The H&S culture of construction clients or owners has not been extensively explored even though it is widely accepted that the client is very important to H&S performance improvement. The paper contributes to this body of knowledge.