Health and safety training in a multilingual construction workforce: Evidence from South Africa

Abstract

The South African construction industry remains one of the most hazardous sectors despite the existence of comprehensive occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation and widespread provision of health and safety (H&S) training. The complexity of construction activities, rapid technological advancement, and an ageing workforce necessitate training that is not only well structured and continuously updated, but also effectively communicated. H&S training is a legal requirement, empowers workers, and plays a critical role in improving H&S performance. However, persistent poor safety outcomes suggest shortcomings in current training approaches. This paper reports on a quantitative study conducted among H&S service providers, construction managers, supervisors, and workers to investigate why poor H&S practices continue to prevail in the South African construction industry. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires distributed in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Area. The findings reveal that the exclusive use of English as the language of instruction for H&S training is largely ineffective, particularly for general workers and laborers. In addition, current H&S training methods and materials were perceived as insufficiently aligned with construction-specific realities. While management respondents tended to believe that the language of instruction has limited impact on training outcomes, workers indicated that training delivered in their home language would significantly enhance understanding and retention. The study concludes that there is an urgent need to review existing H&S training methods, materials, and delivery criteria, with particular emphasis on language. A paradigm shift towards the use of workers’ home languages in H&S training is required. The paper recommends the integration of Industry 4.0 technologies in training delivery, critical evaluation of training content, multilingual training provision across South Africa’s official languages, and systematic assessment of training impact. However, as the study relies on perception-based measures rather than objective safety performance indicators, further research is required to determine the direct impact of multilingual training on accident reduction and behavioural safety outcomes.