Unintended consequences of management strategies for improving labor productivity in construction industry

Introduction: Labor productivity and safety are important topics in the construction industry. Even so, the literature provides little information for project managers trying to determine how management strategies designed to improve labor productivity impact safety. Method: This research addresses the gap by measuring the impact of two groups of management strategies that involve human resource related management strategies and construction related management strategies related to safety performance in construction projects. Data were collected from 111 general construction projects through the survey. Results: The results show that the relationship between the implemented management strategies and safety performance is nuanced with ‘Communication’ harming safety performance while implementation of ‘Labor Management,’ ‘Supervision and Leadership,’ ‘Planning’ and ‘Management of Construction’ strategies improve the level of safety performance. This study took a further step by measuring the impact of the interactions between the two groups of management strategies on safety performance. The results show that the interactions of construction and human related management strategies are not always in the favor of safety. Practical Applications: This paper adds to the literature on the relationship between productivity and safety in the construction industry. The research findings can assist project managers to improve labor productivity without harming the safety of laborers unintentionally.     

The association between subcontractor safety management programs and worker perceived safety climate in commercial construction projects

Problem: Safety management programs (SMPs) are designed to mitigate risk of workplace injuries and create a safe working climate. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the relationship between contractors’ SMPs and workers’ perceived safety climate and safety behaviors among small and medium-sized construction subcontractors. Methods: Subcontractor SMP scores on 18 organizational and project-level safety items were coded from subcontractors’ written safety programs and interviews. Workers completed surveys to report perceptions of their contractor’s safety climate and the safety behaviors of coworkers, crews, and themselves. The associations between SMP scores and safety climate and behavior scales were examined using Spearman correlation and hierarchical linear regression models (HLM). Results: Among 78 subcontractors working on large commercial construction projects, we found striking differences in SMP scores between small, medium, and large subcontractors (p < 0.001), related to a number of specific safety management practices. We observed only weak relationships between SMP scales and safety climate scores reported by 746 workers of these subcontractors (β = 0.09, p = 0.04 by HLM). We saw no differences in worker reported safety climate and safety behaviors by contractor size. Discussion: SMP only weakly predicted safety climate scales of subcontractors, yet there were large differences in the quality and content of SMPs by size of employers. Summary: Future work should determine the best way to measure safety performance of construction companies and determine the factors that can lead to improved safety performance of construction firms. Practical applications: Our simple assessment of common elements of safety management programs used document review and interviews with knowledgeable representatives. These methods identified specific safety management practices that differed between large and small employers. In order to improve construction safety, it is important to understand how best to measure safety performance in construction companies to gain knowledge for creating safer work environments.     

Cultural influences on risks and risk management: six case studies

Ever since the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant on 28 March 1979, the term ‘safety culture’ has been a hot topic for both researchers and organisations. Both the content and causes of a poor safety culture have been the focus of numerous research projects, but also its consequences on an organisation's safety performance and the way organisations should be ‘designed’ to facilitate a ‘good’ safety culture. Since others in this issue focus on the content and causes of safety culture, this article focuses on its consequences from two different but inter-related angles. In the first place, the cultural influences on incident causation are considered. In the second place, the cultural influences on risk management, or specifically incident reporting and analysis, are considered. Both angles are supported by empirical incident data collected in the Dutch steel industry and the medical domain. To collect this data, a risk management approach called PRISMA was used. Further, cultural differences between the domains investigated are highlighted and discussed.     

建筑企业安全文化对安全绩效影响的实证研究

基于安全文化在建筑业安全管理中的重要性越来越突出,因此安全文化对于提高安全绩效,减少建筑业事故发生率的作用日益得到重视。文中进行实证研究,探讨建筑企业安全文化对安全绩效的影响。安全文化的维度为安全制度文化、安全物质文化和安全观念文化,研究结果表明,安全制度文化、安全物质文化和安全观念文化均有助于安全绩效提高,研究结果可在一定程度上促使建筑企业重视并自觉改善安全文化,有助于减少建筑业安全事故发生率,提升安全绩效。     

Implementing and evaluating novel safety training methods for construction sector workers: Results of a randomized controlled trial

Introduction: The construction industry is regarded as one of the most unsafe occupational fields worldwide. Despite general agreement that safety training is an important factor in preventing accidents in the construction sector, more studies are needed to identify effective training methods. To address the current research gap, this study evaluated the impact of novel, participatory safety training methods on construction workers’ safety competencies. Specifically, we assessed the efficacy of an immersive virtual reality (VR)-based safety training program and a participatory human factors safety training program (HFST) in construction industry workplaces. Method: In 2019, 119 construction sector workers from eight workplaces participated in a randomized controlled trial conducted in Finland. All the study participants were assessed using questionnaires at baseline, immediately after the intervention and at one-month follow-up. We applied generalized linear mixed modeling for statistical analysis. Results: Compared to lecture-based safety training, VR-based safety training showed a stronger impact on safety motivation, self-efficacy and safety-related outcome expectancies. In addition, the construction sector workers who participated in the VR-based safety training showed a greater increase in self-reported safety performance at one-month follow-up. Contrary to our study hypotheses, we found no significant differences between the study outcomes in terms of study participants in the HFST training condition and the comparison condition without HFST training. Conclusion: Our study indicates that VR technology as a safety training tool has potential to increase safety competencies and foster motivational change in terms of the safety performance of construction sector workers. In the future, the efficacy of participatory human factors safety training should be studied further using a version that targets both managerial and employee levels and is implemented in a longer format. Practical implications: Safety training in virtual reality provides a promising alternative to passive learning methods. Its motivating effect complements other safety training activities.     

Values-in-action that support safe production

Introduction: Safe production is a sustainable approach to managing an organization’s operations that considers the interests of both management and workers as salient stakeholders in a productive and safe workplace. A supportive culture enacts values versus only espousing them. These values-in-action are beliefs shared by both management and workers that align what should happen in performing organizational routines to be safe and be productive with what actually is done. However, the operations and safety management literature provides little guidance on which values-in-action are most important to safe production and how they work together to create a supportive culture. Method: The researchers conducted exploratory case studies in 10 manufacturing plants of 9 firms. The researchers compared plant managers’ top-down perspectives on safety in the performance of work and workers’ bottom-up experiences of the safety climate and their rates of injury on the job. Each case study used data collected from interviewing multiple managers, the administration of a climate survey to workers and the examination of the plant’s injury rates over time as reported to its third party health and safety insurer. Results: The researchers found that plants with four values-in-action —a commitment to safety, discipline, prevention and participation—were capable of safe production, while plants without those values were neither safe nor productive. Where culture and climate aligned lower rates of injury were experienced. Discussion and conclusion: The four value-in-actions must all be present and work together in a self-reinforcing manner to engage workers and managers in achieving safe production. Practical application: Managers of both operations and safety functions do impact safety outcomes such as reducing injuries by creating a participatory environment that encourage learning that improves both safety and production routines.     

基于行为科学的煤矿安全文化建设模式研究

针对煤矿企业的特点,简要分析国内煤矿企业安全现状及存在问题;探讨我国煤矿事故发生的致因与根源,认为人的不安全行为是煤矿重特大事故频发的主要原因;从煤矿企业所处的环境和自身发展的要求出发,提出以行为科学为理论基础的安全文化建设思路,改变传统安全文化建设中突出硬件建设的做法,把建设的重心转移到"人因"上,突出人的行为与意识在安全文化建设中的地位和作用;引入行为科学的个体行为理论、群体动力理论及组织行为理论,提出一种以个人-群体-组织系统相结合的煤矿安全文化创新建设模式,并分别对个体、群体及组织安全文化建设进行论述,针对构建煤矿安全文化创新机制提出了建议与对策。     

The mediating role of psychological capital between perceived management commitment and safety behavior

Introduction: Among attempts that address high incidences of fatalities and injuries in coal mines, increasing attention has been paid to management commitment to complement the traditional focus on technological advances in safety management. However, more research is needed to explain the influence of perceived management commitment, with extant research drawing commonly on Griffin and Neal (2000) to focus on safety knowledge, skills, and motivation. This study draws on social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) to investigate psychological capital as a link between thought process and safety behavior. Method: This study uses survey data from 400 frontline workers in China’s coal mines to test hypotheses. Result: Results suggest that perceived management commitment to safety correlates positively with workers’ safety compliance and participation, and four constituents of psychological capital—self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience—explain the influence of perceived management commitment on safety compliance and participation. Practical Applications: Findings offer both researchers and practitioners an explanation of how perceived management commitment influences safety behaviors, and clarify the roles psychological capital constituents play in explaining the influence of perceived management commitment on safety compliance and safety participation.     

A comparative analysis of safety management and safety performance in twelve construction projects

IntroductionSafety management in construction is complicated due to the complex “nature” of the construction industry. The aim of this research was to identify safety management factors (e.g., risk management and site management), contextual factors (e.g., organisational complexity) and combinations of such factors connected to safety performance. Method: Twelve construction projects were selected to compare their safety management and safety performance. An analytical framework was developed based on previous research, regulations, and standards where each management factor was defined. We employed qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to produce case knowledge, compare the cases, and identify connections between the factors and safety performance. The material collected and analyzed included, for example, construction planning documents, reports from OHS-inspections, safety indicators, and interviews with project leaders and OHS experts. Results and conclusions: The research showed that: (a) the average score on 12 safety management factors was higher among projects with high safety performance compared to projects with low safety performance; (b) high safety performance can be achieved with both high and low construction complexity and organizational complexity, but these factors complicate coordination of actors and operations; (c) it is possible to achieve high safety performance despite relatively poor performance on many safety management factors; (d) eight safety management factors were found to be “necessary” for high safety performance, namely roles and responsibilities, project management, OHS management and integration, safety climate, learning, site management, staff management, and operative risk management. Site management, operative risk management, and staff management were the three factors most strongly connected to safety performance. Practical implications: Construction stakeholders should understand that the ability to achieve high safety performance in construction projects is connected to key safety management factors, contextual factors, and combinations of such factors.     

浙江油田安全文化建设现状分析与对策思考

浙江油田公司正在全面深入推进安全文化建设,公司安全环保形势也持续明显好转,但是作业现场“三违”现象频现、隐患犹存,甚至造成事故险肇。究其原因,大多数都是风险辨识不到位、措施制定不规范、作业把关不严密所致;归根结底是员工没有形成有效的安全文化意识。结合公司两年来安全文化建设中存在的不足,经深入剖析,提出了有针对性、建设性的对策措施,以便进一步提高浙江油田公司安全文化建设水平。     

企业文化与企业安全文化建设水平互动效应研究

为提高企业安全文化建设水平,基于人类协同国际环形和企业安全文化建设水平评价指标设计调查问卷,以赛轮金宇股份有限公司为研究对象,对其企业文化和企业安全文化建设水平进行相关性分析和多元逐步回归分析,探索二者的互动效应,从企业文化角度发掘安全文化建设重点。结果表明,自我实现文化、亲和文化、传统文化、成就文化与企业安全文化建设水平高度正相关,逃避文化则呈现高度负相关,其相关系数（绝对值）均在0.9以上;同时,多元逐步回归分析中,以上5个文化规则均进入回归方程,其标准化回归系数β分别为:0.395、0.182、0.169、0.129、-0.145。因此,这5种文化规则对企业安全文化建设水平具有很高的预测力,是企业安全文化建设的重点所在。     

Linking emotional intelligence to safety performance: The roles of situational awareness and safety training

Introduction: Safety outcomes in the workplace require individual employees to perform (behave) safely in everyday duties. While the literature suggests that emotional management capabilities or traits can be positively related to individual performance in certain conditions, it is not clear how they can influence safety-related performance in high-risk work contexts. Drawing upon trait activation theory, this paper aims to examine when emotional intelligence (EI) benefits employees’ safety performance. We propose that when employees receive inadequate safety training, EI is more likely to trigger their situational awareness and consequently promote their safety performance. Method: We collected time-lagged data from 133 full-time airplane pilots working in commercial aviation industry. Hierarchical moderated regression analysis was conducted to test the moderating effect of safety training inadequacy on the EI–situational awareness relationship. The moderated mediation model, which involves conditional indirect effects of EI on safety performance via situational awareness across different levels of safety training inadequacy, was tested using the PROCESS-based bootstrap confidence interval. Results: Safety training inadequacy negatively moderated the relationship between EI and situational awareness, such that EI was significantly related to situational awareness only when safety training inadequacy was more salient. The more inadequate safety training was, the greater the indirect effect of EI on safety performance via situational awareness was. Conclusions: Inadequate safety training, as a negative situational cue, can activate individuals’ EI to drive their safety-related cognitions (e.g., situational awareness) and behaviors. Effective safety training may be able to complement employees’ low EI in shaping their situational awareness and safety behaviors. Practical Applications: Aviation managers should monitor the adequacy and effectiveness of safety training; this could make pilots’ situational awareness and safety performance depend less on personal attributes (e.g., EI), which organizations are less able to control. When training capacity is temporarily limited, priority might be given to those with low EI.     

企业安全文化的作用及其定量测量探讨

运用理论分析、案例实证方法,限定性地给出企业安全文化的定义,认为它是企业安全管理所需要的若干核心理念。该核心理念在企业得到接受的状况就是企业安全文化建设的水平,它可以用测量设备进行测量,并可用于定量跟踪企业安全文化建设的进展。理论与实证研究表明:企业安全文化测量值的提高标志着企业安全业绩的进步;安全文化的观测值可以作为企业重大事故预警的指标值。实际测量得知,在所研究的案例企业,安全文化水平大约达到世界最先进水平的85%,是我国的一个较好的例证。     

打造零事故的建筑安全文化

在研讨安全文化和建筑安全文化内涵,分析国内外建筑安全文化研究与国内实施现状的基础上,研究了5家国际建筑企业的安全创新活动,包括:企业背景、方案、实施过程等。结合利害关系者原理、风险管理和安全知识管理,笔者提出:要实现安全行为,应注重塑造员工的安全信念、态度和承诺;应有高层管理人员强有力的支持,将整个建筑业供应链的利害关系者都纳入到安全管理中,风险管理和安全知识管理的运用可促进零事故安全文化的形成。同时提出构建在我国实现零事故的建筑安全文化的流程,即承认-启动-执行-监督-更新的步骤,给出了一种提高员工安全知识、坚定员工安全信念、塑造员工安全态度、形成安全行为并最终打造健全安全文化的整体策略。     

香港特区建筑安全管理的探讨与借鉴

近年来 ,香港特区的建筑业安全状况有了长足进步 ,由于香港的发展既长期受到西方国家先进技术和知识的影响 ,同时又具有中国的传统文化背景 ,因此 ,研究其成功的经验对内地的建筑安全工作有着十分重要的借鉴意义。笔者主要从香港政府部门 (劳工处和环境运输工务局 )对建筑安全的管理和非政府机构 (职业安全健康局、绿十字会等 )对建筑安全的作用两方面进行探讨 ,总结香港特区在建筑安全方面的成功做法 ,最后对内地的建筑安全工作提出了一些建议。     

跨国工程项目安全绩效与安全文化关系模型研究

为探讨跨国工程项目的安全文化构成及其影响绩效的机制,以巴基斯坦工程项目为调查对象,基于扎根理论提出包含管理层观念文化、作业层观念文化、制度文化、物质文化、安全行为及安全结果等6个结构变量的12个假设。运用AMOS软件,构建并验证了国外项目安全文化影响安全绩效的结构方程模型(SEM)。结果显示,管理层观念文化是影响安全绩效的最重要因素,安全制度文化也是相对重要的因素,而受到宗教文化影响的作业层观念文化则是改善安全绩效的难点。最后提出有利于我国跨国施工企业安全文化建设的建议。     

Simulating the relative influence of tire,vehicle and driver factors on forward collision accident rates

Introduction: There is currently a strong focus within the automotive industry centered on traffic safety, with topics such as distracted driving, accident avoidance technologies, and autonomous vehicles. These papers tend to focus on the possible improvements from a single factor. However, there are many factors that are present in each accident, and it is important to understand the influence of each factor on the relative accident risk in order to identify the most effective approaches for improving driver safety. Rear-end accidents tend to be the most common accident type with approximately 1.8 M cases, or 31% of all accidents, in 2012, according to NHTSA. Of the rear-end accident scenarios, approximately 18–23% occur on wet surfaces. Method: A Monte Carlo Forward Collision Simulation models the conditions of a wet rear-end accident and estimates the relative impact of various vehicle collision parameters. The model takes distributions of these parameters as inputs, and outputs a risk of collision relative to a known reference case. The parameters that can be studied include: tire grip level, road grip level, vehicle velocity, following distances, and the presence of vehicle technologies (ABS, FCW & AEB). Distributions of some of these parameters have been improved thanks to Naturalistic Driving Study data from SHRP2. Results: This study shows that these vehicle systems have a large impact on safety and can change the amount of influence attributed to other parameters such as tire grip levels. As the use of automated vehicle systems expands, so will the influence of tire grip performance levels on collision risks. Practical Applications: It is more important than ever for consumers and auto manufacturers to consider tire performance levels. Therefore, the tire industry should continue to focus on wet grip as a key performance related to safety and should strive to continue to improve tire performance.     

Modeling the effects of production pressure on safety performance in construction projects using system dynamics

Introduction: Construction incidents occur due to system failures, not due to a single factor such as unsafe behavior or condition. Therefore, construction safety should be investigated using a systematic view capable of illustrating the complex nature of incidents. Construction projects are also often behind their planned schedule and suffer from various pressures caused by contractual deadlines or clients. Previous studies demonstrated that such pressures negatively affect safety performance; however, the process of how production pressure influences safety performance is not fully investigated. Method: The present research aimed to understand the feedback mechanism of how production pressure interactively affects safety performance and safety-related managerial components in a construction project. Ground theory method (GTM) is used to create a conceptual causal loop diagram that shows the relationship between incident rate and other variables such as labor hour, actual and planned progress, safety climate, rework, and safety training. Moreover, a power plant construction project was used as a case study to practically investigate the conceptual model; a case study is employed to build a System Dynamics (SD) model. The simulation model was then validated using behavior reproduction and sensitivity analysis. Results: The results of the inequality statistics show that the simulation model can be used to forecast trends in the incident rate.     

Impact of psychological capital on construction worker safety behavior: Communication competence as a mediator

IntroductionConstruction workers face a work environment of high risk and mental stress. Psychological capital (PsyCap) could influence employee's mental health and work performance. It would be helpful to determine whether PsyCap affects worker safety behavior. However, few studies empirically examined the impacts of the sub-dimensions of PsyCap on the safety behavior in construction settings, reducing the potential practicability of PsyCap to improve workplace safety performance. Thus, this study tested the relationship between sub-dimensions of PsyCap (self-efficacy, hope, resilience, optimism) and safety behaviors (safety compliance, safety participation), while the mediating role of communication competence was also explored. Method: Data were collected from 655 construction workers in China using a psychological capital questionnaire (PCQ). The theoretical model were tested with confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques. Results: Results show that: (a) the self-efficacy dimension of PsyCap positively affected safety compliance and safety participation, while the resilience dimension positively impacted safety participation; (b) the hope dimension was not directly related to safety behaviors, while the optimism dimension negatively associated with safety participation; and (c) communication competence mediated the relationships between the hope and optimism dimensions of PsyCap and safety participation. Conclusions: A multidimensional perspective on PsyCap should be taken while examining its effects on safety behavior and the individual communication competence helps to enhance construction safety. Findings of this study shed lights on safety behavior promotion practices based on the multidimensional model. Initiating flexible psychological capital training and intervention, and strengthening communication skills of construction employees are suggested to improve safety performance in the construction industry.     

National culture and safe work behaviour of construction workers in Pakistan

It is widely accepted that unsafe behaviour is intrinsically linked to workplace accidents. A positive correlation exists between workers’ safe behaviour and safety climate on construction sites. Construction workers’ attitude towards safety is influenced by their perception of risk, management, safety rules and procedures. Pakistan, a developing country, is currently experiencing a strong growth in its construction activities. Unfortunately, the enforcement of safety regulations in Pakistan is not widespread. Indeed, some relevant regulations are both outdated and irrelevant to daily construction operations. This paper investigates local construction workers’ behaviour, perception and attitude toward safety, and attempts to link the research findings to the influence of national culture. A three-part interview-based questionnaire survey has identified that the majority of workers have a good degree of risk awareness and self-rated competence. Additionally, workers’ intentional behaviour was empirically explained by their attitudes towards their own and management’s safety responsibilities, as well as their perception of the risk they are generally exposed to in their workplace. The paper also reveals that workers operating in a more collective and higher uncertainty avoidance environment, are more likely to have safety awareness and beliefs, which can exhibit safer on-site behaviour.