Influence of Sociodemographic Factors on Construction Fieldworkers’ Safety Risk Assessments

Abstract

Construction operations are hazardous, leading to thousands of accidents, injuries, and fatalities annually. Safety risk assessment (SRA) is a key component necessary to respond to hazards effectively. Individuals have different perceptions of the riskiness of construction hazards, and studies have shown that different sociodemographic factors among employees can alter their SRA skills. However, their role in the US construction industry has been understudied, and this analysis investigates this topic further. Following a detailed systematic review of the relevant literature, quantitative data were collected from 181 construction fieldworkers in the United States using images integrated into an interactive questionnaire survey. Responses on the severity and frequency of seven potential accident causes were captured and analyzed. Findings from the literature review revealed six key sociodemographic factors—age, education, training, gender, ethnicity, and work type—that could impact fieldworkers’ SRA. However, a quantitative analysis suggests that only education is a significant influence, and sociodemographic factors had a statistically significant impact on less than five percent of the assessments. Therefore, the present study proposes that future investigation within the SRA domain should complement sociodemographic factors with critical behavioral factors that are rarely discussed, such as cognitive biases, personality traits, and safety behavior. As a foundational study for safety researchers and practitioners, the results provide information on SRA that can help enhance the safety and workforce sustainability of construction companies with a diverse workforce.

Social and demographic factors in shaping the perception of work as a source of health and safety risks: a study on adult Europeans

“…In terms of the impact of training on risk perception among employees, Chaswa et al (2020) and Ibrahim et al (2022) did not find a significant relationship. Eiris et al (2020) reached interesting conclusions, drawing attention not to the mere fact of undergoing occupational health and safety training by employees but to the quality of training and the training techniques used, which are, in their opinion, crucial.…”

“…In the case of another demographic variable, i.e., age, Chaswa et al (2020) and Han et al (2019) demonstrated the impact of age on risk perception, with people aged 37-46 tending to ignore the risks associated with commonly encountered threats (Han et al, 2019). Wang et al (2019) and Ibrahim et al (2022) reached different conclusions, as according to their research results, all employees, regardless of their age, perceived the risk similarly. Inconclusive results were obtained by Meng and Chan (2020), as their research indicated that male employees' risk perception of workplace hazards increased with age, while among women, age had no significance in risk perception.…”

“…For instance, Han et al (2019) and Meng and Chan (2020) proved the existence of differences among male and female respondents, with women more likely than men to notice threats and their negative consequences. However, studies conducted by Chaswa et al (2020), Ibrahim et al (2022), andTrillo-Cabello et al (2021) show that gender does not differentiate the perception of risk by employees. In the case of another demographic variable, i.e., age, Chaswa et al (2020) and Han et al (2019) demonstrated the impact of age on risk perception, with people aged 37-46 tending to ignore the risks associated with commonly encountered threats (Han et al, 2019).…”

“…Eiris et al (2020) reached interesting conclusions, drawing attention not to the mere fact of undergoing occupational health and safety training by employees but to the quality of training and the training techniques used, which are, in their opinion, crucial. The level of education of employees and their perception of threats in the workplace is the subject of research conducted, among others (Chaswa et al, 2020;Han et al, 2019;Meng & Chan, 2020;Ibrahim et al, 2022). Chaswa et al (2020) and Meng and Chan (2020) showed a positive correlation between education and risk perception, while according to Ibrahim et al (2022), different levels of education do not influence the perception of workplace hazards.…”

Analysis of Behavioral Strategies of Construction Safety Subjects Based on the Evolutionary Game Theory

“…The World Health and Safety Executive Report states that the construction industry is the most important industry responsible for high injury and fatality rates in both developing and developed countries [1][2][3]. The construction industry has contributed significantly to the economic growth in many countries.…”