Compliance with Occupational Health and Safety Requirements in Uganda's Construction Sector: A Systematic Review

Construction is a high-risk industry and in Uganda it is regulated by the Occupational safety and Health Act, 2006. However, there is limited evidence on how well construction employers comply with their legal duties and why. This evidence gap has also not been reviewed. To identify, appraise and synthesize the evidence on compliance with occupational health and safety (OHS) requirements in Uganda's construction sector, the determinants of compliance and the regulatory and enforcement environment. The review was conducted according to PRISMA 2020. CORE (3 searches), Consensus and Google Scholar were searched and records imported into Zotero on 22 October 2026. A total of 226 records were identified, of which 157 unique records were screened. 8 reports out of 13 requested were assessed for eligibility. Studies were eligible if they investigated compliance, practices, injuries or regulation of OHS in Uganda's construction sector. We evaluated quality with a six-domain instrument. Results were thematically synthesized. Six studies from 2016 to 2023 were included: four cross-sectional or case studies, one regulatory review with key informant interviews and one master's thesis. Five themes emerged: the level of compliance and its measurement, organizational rather than personal determinants of compliance, outdated law and limited enforcement capacity, personal protective equipment as the most visible gap, differences between building and road sites and between firms. One study reported 95% compliance that its own scale classed as unacceptable and another reported an injury prevalence of 32.4%. No included study analyses inspection or prosecution data, or the construction-specific duties of employers under the 2006 Act. Compliance in Uganda's construction sector appears to be partial and organization-driven, with a regulatory framework described as outdated and weakly enforced. The evidence is limited, focused on Kampala and mainly cross-sectional. Five relevant reports could not be obtained. The priority areas include enforcement data, doctrinal analysis of employer duties and studies of small contractors and sites outside Kampala.