Ethnography in Construction Site

Ethnography in Construction Site

            It was such a grateful day when I decided to visit a construction site around my homeplace for observation purposes. I did this on Saturday morning at around 10 am. Since I was not one of the construction workers, I just sat down on one side to observe the operations that were taking place in the site. It is a downscale construction site that is located approximately three hundred meters from my homeplace. I was an outsider in the construction site where I visited.

Upon arrival at the construction site, I expected a warm welcome, but this was not the case. I only saw one man approaching and greeted me, “Good morning.” I respondent, “good morning to you.” He showed me a place to sit whereby, according to me, “he was the supervisor of that construction site” The reason is that he was going around inspecting the other construction workers and directing them on what they were supposed to do. In the construction site, my core objective was to observe all the operations that were taking place. The site was for the construction of a single-room rental house.

Inside the construction site, there is a big board showing the details of the project. The information contained in the board also includes the legal authority’s signatories. This information is essential in demonstrating that the Environmental Impact Assessment has been done before the project commence. The names of the contractor, together with the project proponent, are indicated on the board. Inside the construction site, there is a lot of construction materials that are laid all over. If a person is not keen while walking inside the site, he or she might step on some of the dangerous substances and get injuries. There is no specific area that the construction materials should be kept and this contributes to many casualties in the site.

Around the construction site, there is a wired fence that provides security to the construction workers while doing their normal activities. The wired fence also hinders the interferences between the construction workers and the other community members. The wall surrounding the site also prevents the community’s domestic animals from accessing the site, thus avoiding their disturbances. Still, inside the construction site, there are more stones and large amounts of sand laid in specific points where the workers pick them and use during construction.

Before the building construction is over, the environment is full of big pieces of timber, cement bags, stones, sand, and asbestos. Some holes are dug in support of both wood posts and metals that are used by the construction workers for construction. The environment within the construction is not tidy due to the reckless dropping of the construction materials.  Lack of proper disposal of the construction materials within the construction site contributes to several minor and major injuries to the workers. There is, therefore, need to embrace appropriate management and disposal of the construction materials to avoid injuries.

There are both males and females in the construction site, but the highest percentage of the participants are males. In the construction site, the total number of participants present were eighty-five. Out of the total population, only ten people were females. The work of the females is to prepare food for the other workers. The rest of the workers consists of the contractor, two supervisors, a site foreman, masons and casual workers. All the masons and casual workers wear safety gadgets such as gloves, hard hat and helmets to protect them from injuries.

The contractor is in charge of the whole construction project and instructs the supervisors who later directs the rest of the workers on what to do. This is so because I saw the contractor giving the instructions to the supervisors on what should be done by the workers. The mood like in the area is formal since all the workers are confined to a specific working place where they are given instructions on what to do by the supervisors just like any organization.

All casual workers in the site participate in activities like lifting of stones together with mixing of sand and cement with water. The masons work hand in hand with casual workers for construction to take place. The supervisor interacts with the workers and directs them on what to do in the construction site. The contractor gives instructions to the supervisors and informs them of any materials delivered by the supplier. Communication in the construction site is informal. Contractor and the supervisor appear to be more central in the construction site. They give directions that are to be followed by all the workers.