ABSTRACT
Construction health and safety (H&S) is a multi-stakeholder issue but, historically, it has been viewed as the contractor’s problem. The human cost in the form of fatalities, injuries, and disease, and the cost of accidents (COA) represents the motivation for all stakeholders to contribute to H&S. The aim of the research is to assess the status of and evolve a framework for tertiary built environment construction H&S education in South Africa. A survey was conducted among providers of tertiary built environment education to assess the status of H&S in construction education. Thereafter, built environment practitioners were surveyed to determine the extent to which they agreed with a proposed framework for tertiary built environment construction H&S education. Tertiary built environment education is inadequate in terms of H&S in construction. The degree of support for the inclusion of twenty-five aspects in thirteen disciplines’ tertiary built environment programmes’ construction H&S modules ranges between 66.4% (Land Surveying) and 97.4% (Construction Management). The reality is that tertiary built environment education is not empowering its graduates to contribute to H&S in construction and, therefore, compounds the problems relative to H&S. This study has provided the first comprehensive scientific framework, in terms of thirteen disciplines, and the related construction H&S modules that should be addressed.
