Exploring On-Site Safety Knowledge Transfer in the Construction Industry

Abstract

A primary cause of occupational accidents is on-site workers not having proper or even adequate safety knowledge and awareness, leading to them failing to employ safety measures, equipment, or behavior to protect themselves. The complexity of construction projects and changes in organizational personnel complicate the safety knowledge transfer process. Therefore, to reduce occupational accidents in the construction industry, this study explored the on-site safety knowledge transfer process as well as its relationship with a safe working environment; it did this to understand the associations between various constructs in the process, which could be used as a reference for management personnel to promote on-site safety education and behaviors. This would allow safety knowledge to be learned and practiced by on-site workers, changing their unsafe behaviors and creating a safe on-site work environment. This study used structural equation modeling to empirically study the relationship between various constructs during safety knowledge transfer on a construction site. The results revealed that an excellent safety knowledge transfer environment can lead to favorable safety behavior as well as safety knowledge application and inspiration of on-site workers, which would affect their safety behaviors. More satisfactory safety behaviors of on-site workers could produce a safer working environment on the construction site. Moreover, although safety application and inspiration do not directly affect the safety of a work environment, they do so indirectly through safety behaviors.

Violent behaviour on construction sites: structural equation modelling of its impact on unsafe behaviour using partial least squares

“…Failure to warn or secure members out of danger. This unsafe behaviour is highly reported in literature (Grytnes et al, 2020;Huang and Yang, 2019;Shamsuddin et al, 2015). On construction sites, accidents can easily occur if supervisors fail or ignore to warn other members who work on high risk tasks.…”

Influencing Factors, Mechanism and Prevention of Construction Workers’ Unsafe Behaviors: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Harsini et al [ 52 ] clarified the effects of safety education interventions on workers’ unsafe behaviors through a mixed-method study (MMR). Huang and Yang [ 98 ] concluded that the transmission and popularization of safety knowledge in construction organizations is an effective method of creating a good safety atmosphere. Choi and Li [ 43 , 44 ] argued from the perspective of social identity that formulating work group norms are an effective way to improve worker safety behaviors.…”

Exploring the Relationship between Safety Climate and Worker Safety Behavior on Building Construction Sites in Taiwan

“…Bhasi and Vinodkumar [42] examined safety management practices and their influence on SB, results showed safety training is a key predictor of safety motivation, safety knowledge, safety participation, and safety compliance. The practice of transferring safety knowledge is of particular interest as it shown to deliver favorable SB outcomes [56]. Site interaction between laborers and supervisory staff all also plays an important role where effective communication has a significant influence on safety [23].…”