Factors Influencing Compliance with Occupational Health and Safety Regulations in the Construction Industry in Abuja (FCT): A Mixed-Methods Study

Construction industry OHS regulation compliance in Nigeria remains consistently suboptimal despite an expanding legislative framework, creating a persistent gap between policy intent and worker protection. This mixed-methods study investigated the factors influencing OHS compliance in the construction industry in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, using a sequential explanatory design. In the quantitative phase, 240 site workers, supervisors, and safety officers from 20 registered construction companies completed a validated OHS compliance determinants questionnaire. In the qualitative phase, 20 purposively selected participants including site managers and labor inspectors participated in semi-structured interviews. Quantitative results showed that only 31.3 percent of sites achieved adequate OHS compliance scores. Significant predictors of compliance included company size (OR: 4.52), financial strength (OR: 3.71), safety officer presence (OR: 5.84), and frequency of labor inspection visits (OR: 6.23). Qualitative themes revealed that client-driven cost minimization, subcontractor fragmentation, and regulatory bribery were structural barriers not captured in quantitative models. Positive deviance analysis of the top-quartile compliant sites identified ISO 45001 certification ambition and visible CEO safety commitment as distinguishing cultural factors. This study provides a multi-level explanatory framework for OHS compliance in Nigerian construction and recommends a tiered regulatory enforcement strategy, company safety culture audits, and construction-sector OHS incentive mechanisms in the FCT. Keywords: OHS compliance, construction industry, regulatory enforcement, safety culture, Abuja.