**2. Literature review**

Improving health and safety in the construction industry remains a priority because the construction sector stands out among all other sectors as the highest contributor to fatal occupational accidents. It was found that the traditional burden of ensuring the health and safety of construction worksites has been placed exclusively on the organizations. Although organizations will always bear the duty for construction site health and safety, the novel perception of prevention through design could be seen to allow Engineers, Architects, and other professionals to contribute to improving site health and safety, likewise the step for the prevention of occupational accidents. Similarly, the responsibility of frontline managers and senior-level leadership is to vigorously work together to reduce constraints on employee participation in the prevention of occupational accidents [20]. According to ILO 2013 [21], managing risks and identifying hazards are important steps to improving health and safety and health at the organizational level. Also, the provision of information and training courses to employees is a legal prerequisite for the prevention of occupational accidents. Managers must identify hazards faced by their employees, likewise employees must recognize the hazards they are exposed to.

According to the study by Bhattacharjee et al. [22], the tactics for improving health and safety in the construction industry include personnel selection, technological intervention, behavior modification, poster campaigns, quality circle, exercise and stress management, safety climate, near-miss accident reporting, and zero injury technique. Mollo et al. [23] highlighted that the process of improving OHS in the construction sector would be accomplished by utilizing learning by doing. According to Chan et al. [24], to guarantee health and safety, and to ensure the sector is more efficient, it is important to take into consideration learning from incidence factors in the construction industry that permits the development of active health and safety measures. Learning by doing permits site managers to transfer skills and knowledge to employees. The study by Osei-Asibey et al. [25] focused on the framework to enable construction participants to recognize problem areas on the construction site and implement the necessary improvement measures to build a healthy and safe construction site. Five expected improvements were identified, namely: (1) qualified participants, (2) positive behavior and attitude, (3) better working conditions and management's commitment, (4) suitable tools and equipment, and (5) better construction health and safety knowledge. According to Manzo [8], four policy approaches to ensure safer and healthy working conditions in the construction sectors are (1) increasing resources for conducting inspections, (2) sustaining or implementing state-acknowledged wage laws, (3) the introduction of responsible bidder ordinances, and (4) avoiding attacks on unions.

Furthermore, according to Kheni et al. [26], robust and well-structured institutional plans to ensure health and safety (H&S) standards in the workplace are required to improve occupational health and safety. The OHS performance of construction sites will remain poor until professionals and owner-managers in the built environment are willing to change their orientations and take up the responsibility. Similarly, Misiurek K. and Misiurek B. [27] highlighted that not technical problems but human errors have the utmost influence on the incidence of occupational accidents. According to Misiurek K. and Misiurek B. [27], the methodology for improving OHS in the construction sector is based on the selected constituents from the training within the industry program which includes: the selection of a procedure to be executed in the methodology, creation of a work breakdown sheet, organizing the procedure for eradicating and improving key points, preparation of warnings for each health and safety-related key point, identification of essential personal protective equipment, preparation of a work breakdown sheet for a new technique for the execution of an operation, and training of workers in the new standard of work and sustaining the methodology. All these factors contribute to the eradication of problems connected with the root causes of human mistakes. Sharma and Kumar [28] highlighted that training within industry programs deals with the following problems: (1) how to convey knowledge efficiently to the employees in the construction sites, how and why should it be done in a definite manner, (2) how to provide training to employees under their requirements, (3) how to improve occupational health and safety by applying a series of questions through the 5W1H method, (4) how to outline a strategy for the building of interactions within the team, and (5) how to use technical processes for the recognizing, eradication, and protection against the hazards.

Colin Fuller and Luise Vassie [29] highlighted that monitoring the application of health and safety management procedures and policies is a vital feature of improving health and safety, as it ensures an organization determines whether recommended standards are followed and are in line with the organizational objectives. Measures to improve occupational health and safety can be accomplished through (1) compliance

#### *Approaches to Improving Occupational Health and Safety of the Nigerian Construction Industry DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113011*

with health and safety legislation and management system, (2) monitoring deficiencies in health and safety performance, (3) recording performance information that enables preventative and corrective management activities, (4) documentation of the root causes of occupational accidents and nonconformances, and (5) application of quantitative and qualitative measures in preventative and corrective activities.

Antwi-Afari et al. [30] highlighted that with the development of sensing and warning-based innovation, practitioners and researchers have realized that their implementation could offer effective solutions to the improvement of OHS in the construction sector. Improving OHS is a social procedure and the application of economic justification influences the process. Though, organizations and workers are not firmly rational and economically analytical individuals. But, Broek K Van Den et al. [31] pinpoint that occupational accident costing is a valuable method of measuring, managing, and eventually improving health and safety. Mossink and Licher [32] highlighted OHS and profits remain distinct goals, nevertheless the economic theory can give suggestions as to when improvements serve both profits and OHS. Myers et al. [33] maintain those economics can impact decision-makers, but the economic approach is sometimes challenging to defend in front of an audience unwilling to accept health and safety messages, in that circumstance, a narrative approach of incorporating economic arguments works better.

Improvements in occupational health and safety at work can bring economic advantages to organizations, employees, and societies as a whole [34]. Occupational accidents can give rise to serious costs for an organization, for small establishments, in particular, occupational accidents can have substantial financial consequences. British Safety Council 2014 [35] asserts that investing in the management of OHS is an opportunity to gain a variety of advantages including boosting the organization's image and avoiding the costs of penalties**.** EU-OSHA 2007 [36] highlighted the benefits of investing in OHS, including that it (1) helps to demonstrate that an organization is socially responsible, (2) protects and improves brand image and value, (3) supports maximizing the productivity of workforces, (4) improves workers' commitment to the organization, (5) builds a more competent and healthier workforce, (6) reduces operational costs and disruption of the progress of work, (7) enables organizations to meet customers' expectations on OHS, and (8) encourages the employees to stay longer in active life.

Lingard [37] highlighted that ensuring occupational health and safety knowledge is used to inform decisions made in the planning and design stages of projects remains a problem for the construction industry. The generally cited difficulty is the extent of construction occupational health and safety knowledge owned by the upstream decision-makers. But preconstruction decision-makers must be better informed concerning occupational health and safety to allow them to understand more insightful risk consequences of their decisions. The construction OHS challenge is complex, and it needs a refined answer. Decomposing and solving a single feature of the problem is doubtful to bring about important improvements. Preferably, the incorporation of multiple approaches is essential in the delivery of improvements in the construction occupational health and safety, as well as in the prevention of accidents in the sector.
