Exploring the Multilevel Perception of Safety Climate on Taiwanese Construction Sites

Abstract

This study investigates multilevel differences in safety climate (SC) perception dimensions between management and laborers on Taiwanese construction sites. With Taiwan’s high rate of construction site safety incidents, implementing successful safety strategies requires understanding differences in SC perceptions between management and laborers. This study used a structured SC questionnaire with responses from 74 managers and 261 laborers. The analysis of collected data includes (1) descriptive statistics comparing the selected dimensions; (2) Pearson correlation analysis examining relationships between SC perception dimensions; (3) t-test and one-way ANOVA to assess relationships between the respondent’s background and SC perception dimensions; and (4) Post-Tukey comparison analysis to compare the SC perception differences between management and laborers. The results indicate that management-level staff show a higher degree of SC perception than laborer-level staff. This level of SC perception varies between individual dimensions. The strongest convergence between the two groups is observed in the dimension of ‘workmate care of each other’, and the greatest divergence is found in ‘risk decision making’. Previous studies regarding SC perception in Taiwan specifically focus on construction workers and neglect the differences in perception between management and laborers. The outcomes of this study contribute to the understanding of multilevel SC perceptions, which can be used in the development of targeted strategies to improve SC on construction sites.

Safety Climate Perceptions in the Construction Industry of Saudi Arabia: The Current Situation

“…Secondly, to further enhance safety climate, it is vital for an organization to have a positive safety culture, which also influences safety performance. Management should build communication channels and support workers with a positive organizational culture as well as ensure that their workers are protected, regardless of their background or employment type [ 17 ]. High-level supervisors have a significant role in facilitating the link between organizational safety climate and safety performance [ 18 ].…”

“…Employees of companies with high levels of safety climate behave safely, and they perceive that they are encouraged to retain good safety practices in spite of high production pressure [ 20 ]. A study in Taiwan concluded that the safety climate perception of management is higher than that of laborers and that this difference can be used to improve strategies for enhancing safety climate on construction sites [ 17 ]. Improving the overall construction safety levels is the responsibility of construction managers, as they enhance safety perception by safety training and better practices [ 21 ].…”

The Effects of Multi-Sociodemographic Characteristics of Construction Sites Personnel on Perceptions of Safety Climate-Influencing Factors: The Construction Industry in Saudi Arabia

“…The age characteristic was expressed in non-overlapping year ranges, nationality was expressed in citizenship groups, education was expressed in the highest level of qualification attained, the occupation was expressed in the general job domains of participants, years of experience was expressed in ranges of non-overlapping years spent in the construction profession, and trade specialty was expressed in specific construction activities. These sociodemographic characteristics were used based on several relevant studies [ 5 , 20 , 24 , 28 , 32 , 33 , 34 ] and were found to be the most applicable to the Saudi Arabian construction environment. Other sociodemographic characteristics which have been used in many studies, such as alcohol consumption, were not considered due to being inapplicable to the Saudi Arabian construction industry, as drinking is considered prohibited in the country.…”

“…Disparities in trade safety climate perceptions exist and may be associated with changes in tasks, environment, and exposure to risk [ 32 ]. For instance, the safety climate perception of management-level staff is higher than that of labor-level staff [ 33 ]. Similarly, different trades within the construction industry may not share the same risks and hazards.…”

Construction Safety Success Factors: A Taiwanese Case Study

“…The 18 selected SFs were assessed using principal component analysis (PCA) with a follow up varimax rotation. PCA generates sets of linear combinations of variables to illuminate the variance observed in the data collected in the surveys [52]. This type of analysis reduces the data being observed to a set of linear related factors.…”