SAFETY CLIMATE IN CONSTRUCTION SITE ENVIRONMENTS

This paper discusses empirical research aimed at examining the relationship between the safety climate and safe work behavior in construction site environments. A literature review has identified a number of independent constructs with the potential to affect the safety climate. A research model was developed based on the hypothesis that safe work behaviors are consequences of the existing safety climate, which, in turn, is determined by the identified independent constructs. A questionnaire survey was used in order to facilitate the collection of information from construction sites. The model was tested using structural equation modeling. The paper presents the results of testing the research model. The results corroborate the importance of the role of management commitment, communication, workers’ involvement, attitudes, competence, as well as supportive and supervisory environments, in achieving a positive safety climate.

[1]  Taeki Lee,et al.  Assessing safety culture in nuclear power stations , 2000 .

[2]  Gregory E. Prussia,et al.  Predicting safe employee behavior in the steel industry: Development and test of a sociotechnical model , 2000 .

[3]  Toivo Niskanen,et al.  Safety climate in the road administration , 1994 .

[4]  K. Weick,et al.  Organizing for high reliability: Processes of collective mindfulness. , 1999 .

[5]  S. Rowlinson,et al.  Safety behaviour and safety management: its influence on the attitudes of workers in the UK construction industry , 2000 .

[6]  Tuula Laukkanen.  Construction work and education: occupational health and safety reviewed , 1999 .

[7]  A. Glendon,et al.  Human Safety and Risk Management, Second Edition , 2006 .

[8]  Daniel Fong,et al.  Factors affecting safety performance on construction sites , 1999 .

[9]  Stuart D. Anderson,et al.  Strategies for Achieving Excellence in Construction Safety Performance , 1996 .

[10]  Tony Baxendale,et al.  Construction design and management safety regulations in practice—progress on implementation , 2000 .

[11]  James C. Anderson,et al.  STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING IN PRACTICE: A REVIEW AND RECOMMENDED TWO-STEP APPROACH , 1988 .

[12]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[13]  John Hulland,et al.  Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research: a review of four recent studies , 1999 .

[14]  Steve Rowlinson.  Hong Kong Construction Site Safety Management , 1997 .

[15]  D. W. Barclay,et al.  The Effects of Organizational Differences and Trust on the Effectiveness of Selling Partner Relationships , 1997 .

[16]  Peter Williams,et al.  Planning During Construction , 1998 .

[17]  D. Lezotte,et al.  Contractor safety practices and injury rates in construction of the Denver International Airport. , 1999, American journal of industrial medicine.

[18]  Nabil Kartam,et al.  Integrating Safety and Health Performance into Construction CPM , 1997 .

[19]  Mark S. Litwin,et al.  How to Measure Survey Reliability and Validity , 1995 .

[20]  Adrian B. Ryans,et al.  Entry Strategy and Long-Term Performance: Conceptualization and Empirical Examination , 1995 .

[21]  J. Pfeffer,et al.  A social information processing approach to job attitudes and task design. , 1978, Administrative science quarterly.

[22]  H Laitinen,et al.  The validity of the TR safety observation method on building construction. , 1999, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[23]  Simon Washington,et al.  Structural equation model of construction contract dispute potential , 2000 .

[24]  Vicente González-Romá,et al.  The validity of collective climates , 1999 .

[25]  Elazar J. Pedhazur,et al.  Measurement, Design, and Analysis: An Integrated Approach , 1994 .

[26]  Rex B. Kline,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling , 1998 .

[27]  Herman Wold,et al.  Soft modelling: The Basic Design and Some Extensions , 1982 .

[28]  Ann Williamson,et al.  The development of a measure of safety climate: The role of safety perceptions and attitudes , 1997 .

[29]  Sherif Ali Mohtady Mohamed,et al.  Empirical investigation of construction safety management activities and performance in Australia , 1999 .

[30]  Alistair Cheyne,et al.  Assessing safety culture in offshore environments. , 2000 .

[31]  Philip Bobko,et al.  Self-efficacy beliefs: Comparison of five measures. , 1994 .

[32]  Simo Salminen.  Serious occupational accidents in the construction industry , 1995 .

[33]  Ezey M. Dar-El,et al.  Threat perception and the readiness to participate in safety programs , 1991 .

[34]  Richard C. Thompson,et al.  Where the Safety Rubber Meets the Shop FJoor: A Confirmatory Model of Management Influence on Workplace Safety , 2001 .

[35]  Torbjørn Rundmo,et al.  Associations between risk perception and safety , 1996 .

[36]  A. Edmondson.  Learning from Mistakes is Easier Said Than Done: Group and Organizational Influences on the Detection and Correction of Human Error , 1996 .

[37]  Gilbert A. Churchill.  A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs , 1979 .

[38]  D. Zohar.  Safety climate in industrial organizations: theoretical and applied implications. , 1980, The Journal of applied psychology.

[39]  K Ojanen,et al.  Measurement methodology for the effects of accident prevention programs. , 1988, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[40]  J. March,et al.  Variable risk preferences and the focus of attention , 1992 .

[41]  Helen Lingard,et al.  Behaviour-based safety management in Hong Kong's construction industry: the results of a field study , 1998 .

[42]  Sherif Ali Mohtady Mohamed.  Risk assessment in bidding for international projects- The Australian experience , 2000 .

[43]  T. Cox,et al.  The structure of employee attitudes to safety: A European example , 1991 .

[44]  Kathryn Mearns,et al.  Measuring safety climate: identifying the common features☆ , 2000 .