Tracy Cooke

Safety climate in conditions of construction subcontracting: a multi-level analysis

A multi‐level safety climate model was tested in the Australian construction industry. Subcontracted workers’ perceptions of the organizational safety response (OSR) and supervisor safety response (SSR) in their own organization and that of the principal contractor were measured using a safety climate survey administered at a large hospital construction project in Melbourne. One hundred and fourteen construction workers completed the survey, representing nine subcontractors engaged at the project. Two requisite conditions for the existence of group‐level safety climates, i.e. (1) within‐group homogeneity; and (2) between‐group variation were satisfied for perceptions of subcontractors’ OSR and SSR. This supports the contention that subcontractors working in a single construction project exhibit a unique group‐level safety climate. Subcontracted workers also discriminated between group‐level safety climates (i.e. the SSR) in their own and in the principal contractor’s organizations. The results suggest some cross‐level influence. Perceptions of the SSR were positively predicted by perceptions of the OSR in both the principal and subcontractor organizations. Perceptions of the OSR of the principal contractor were also a significant predictor of the perceived OSR and SSR in the subcontractor organizations. Perceptions of the subcontractors’ SSR were a significant predictor of the rate of lost‐time and medical treatment incidents reported by the subcontractor. Although perceptions of the principal contractor’s SSR were not directly related to subcontractors’ injury rates, they were a significant predictor of subcontractors’ SSR, revealing an indirect link. The results suggest that supervisory personnel (e.g. foremen and leading hands) play an important role in shaping safety performance in subcontracted workgroups.

ToolSHeD™: The development and evaluation of a decision support tool for health and safety in construction design

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe an innovative information and decision support tool (ToolSHeD™) developed to help construction designers to integrate the management of OHS risk into the design process. The underlying structure of the prototype web‐based system and the process of knowledge acquisition and modelling are described. Design/methodology/approach – The ToolSHeD™ research and development project involved the capture of expert reasoning regarding design impacts upon occupational health and safety (OHS) risk. This knowledge was structured using an innovative method well‐suited to modelling knowledge in the context of uncertainty and discretionary decision‐making. Example “argument trees” are presented, representing the reasoning used by a panel of experts to assess the risk of falling from height during roof maintenance work. The advantage of using this method for modelling OHS knowledge, compared to the use of simplistic rules, is discussed Findings – The ToolSHeD™ prototype development and testing reveals that argument trees can represent design safety risk knowledge effectively. Practical implications – The translation of argument trees into a web‐based decision support tool is described and the potential impact of this tool in providing construction designers (architects and engineers) with easy and inexpensive access to expert OHS knowledge is discussed. Originality/value – The paper describes a new computer application, currently undergoing testing in the Australian building and construction industry. Its originality lies in the fact that ToolSHeD™ deploys argument trees to represent expert OHS reasoning, overcoming inherent limitations in rule‐based expert systems.

Group-level safety climate in the Australian construction industry: within-group homogeneity and between-group differences in road construction and maintenance

In modern organizations it is overly simplistic to assume that a uniform, organization‐wide climate for safety develops. Workgroup‐level safety climates are more likely to arise in decentralized organizations and their influence on occupational health and safety (OHS) behaviour is likely to be stronger when work is non‐routine, as in construction. The existence of workgroup‐level safety climates was examined in the Australian construction industry. A group‐level safety climate survey was conducted in a road maintenance and construction organization. The clear factorial structure produced in a larger sample of Australian defence logistics workers was not replicated and factors splintered, possibly due to the subject‐to‐item ratio in the construction study. However, the internal reliability consistency of the factors produced in the earlier pilot study was found to be acceptable for the construction industry data. Two requisite conditions for the existence of group‐level safety climates, i.e. (1) within‐group homogeneity; and (2) between‐group variation, were satisfied within the road construction and maintenance organization. The results indicate that distinct workgroup safety climates exist in construction, providing a theoretical explanation for why some workgroups perform better in OHS than others, despite having similar risk exposure.

Do perceptions of supervisors’ safety responses mediate the relationship between perceptions of the organizational safety climate and incident rates in the construction supply chain?

A multilevel safety climate survey was conducted in three Australian organizations in the construction supply chain. A principal components analysis (with varimax rotation) yielded six distinct safety climate factors reflecting aspects of the organizational safety response (OSR), supervisors’ safety response (SSR), and coworkers’ safety response (CSR). Perceptions of top management’s commitment to safety (an aspect of OSR) and supervisors’ safety expectations (an aspect of SSR) were both significantly and inversely correlated with the combined medical treatment and lost time injury rate of workgroups in the analysis. Further, regression analysis revealed that perceptions of supervisors’ safety expectations fully mediated the relationship between perceptions of top management’s commitment to safety and the workgroup injury frequency rate. The results highlight the critical role played by first-level supervisors in acting as the conduit through which organizational safety priorities are communicated to the ...

Properties of group safety climate in construction: the development and evaluation of a typology

A safety climate survey was conducted in three Australian construction industry organizations. Workers’ perceptions of their supervisors’ safety response (SSR) and co‐workers’ safety response (CSR) were measured as facets of group safety climate. A two‐dimensional schema was developed based upon the strength and the level of group safety climate. The resulting framework was used to position the 40 workgroups included in the sample within one of four group safety climate types. A non‐parametric Kruskal Wallis test revealed that workgroups in which members share a strong consensus that co‐workers should treat safety as a priority had a significantly lower injury frequency rate than other workgroups in the sample. While no significant differences between the injury frequency rates of workgroups positioned in the four safety climate types were found for the other facets of group safety climate, workgroups with strong and high (i.e. strongly supportive) safety climates related to supervisors’ safety expectations and co‐workers’ actual safety behaviour reported injury frequency rates on average two‐thirds the magnitude of the remaining workgroups in the sample. Although limited by the reliance on retrospective and insensitive measurement for the dependent variable (i.e. injury frequency rates), the research provides preliminary evidence for the importance of considering both the strength and level of group safety climates in the construction industry. Future research should seek to replicate and extend this research by examining the antecedents of group safety climate strength and level in the construction context.

Construction accident causality: learning from different countries and differing consequences

Fundamental questions remain about the practical value and generalizability of accident causation frameworks for explaining construction accidents. Relevant causality literature is reviewed; three research projects compared and implications of accident causation theories for accident investigation and analysis discussed, particularly for accidents with differing consequences and in different national contexts. The effectiveness of the UK accident causality framework ConAC (Construction Accident Causality) in identifying occupational accident causes in different industry contexts (Australia and the USA) is evaluated; and the implications of the choice of theoretical framework in the analysis of construction accident causation considered. The ConAC framework was developed from a real-time analysis of 100 relatively minor construction accidents. The Australian study used this framework to analyse the National Coroners reports of 258 construction fatalities and the USA study used it to develop research instruments for interviews regarding 27 construction accidents of varying consequences. The results suggest that the ConAC framework is helpful for the analysis of the causes of accidents with outcomes of differing severity. The studies also suggest that it has international applicability despite differing occupational health and safety legislative contexts and industrial arrangements. Furthermore, significant learning can be obtained from considering underlying causes of accidents.

Prevention through design: Trade‐offs in reducing occupational health and safety risk for the construction and operation of a facility

Purpose – The research aims to explore the interaction between design decisions that reduce occupational health and safety (OHS) risk in the operation stage of a facilitys life cycle and the OHS experiences of workers in the construction stage.Design/methodology/approach – Data was collected from three construction projects in Australia. Design decisions were examined to understand the reasons they were made and the impact that they had on OHS in the construction and operation stages.Findings – The case examples reveal that design decisions made to reduce OHS risk during the operation of a facility can introduce new hazards in the construction stage. These decisions are often influenced by stakeholders external to the project itself.Research limitations/implications – The results provide preliminary evidence of challenges inherent in designing for OHS across the lifecycle of a facility. Further research is needed to identify and evaluate methods by which risk reduction across all stages of a facilitys l...

The model client framework

Purpose – Clients of the construction industry, an important segment of the project management (PM) discipline, can make an important contribution to the occupational health and safety (OHS) performance of the construction projects they procure. This practice note aims to describe an initiative of the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner in Australia.Design/methodology/approach – A model client framework was developed to assist Australian Government agencies to embed OHS into their procurement and PM practices.Findings – The model client framework establishes principles for the management of OHS in construction projects and establishes processes for client involvement in OHS through the planning, design and procurement, construction and completion stages of construction projects. Within each project stage, key management actions are established for Australian Government agencies.Practical implications – The model client framework will enable Australian Government agencies to operate in a consistent f...

Designing for construction workers’ occupational health and safety: a case study of socio-material complexity

Drawing upon an empirical analysis of the design and construction of a food processing facility, a theoretical understanding of the impact of design decision-making on the occupational health and safety (OHS) of construction workers is developed. It is argued that current policy and legislative approaches to Construction Hazard Prevention through Design (CHPtD) are inherently limited because they do not adequately reflect the socio-material complexity of decision-making in construction design. Specifically, the simplistic attribution of responsibility to a single socio-technical actor, ‘the designer’, does not reflect the multiple and disparate influences that impact upon OHS outcomes. Nor do existing CHPtD policy frameworks, management processes and tools recognize the manner in which the interactions and associations between relevant project stakeholders and various non-human artefacts shape (and are also influenced by) the evolution of design decisions. Drawing on actor-network theory (ANT) and using embedded units within a case study approach, the interactions between human actors and non-human artefacts are explored in relation to the design of four components of the food processing facility. The way in which design decisions unfolded and shaped OHS experiences during the construction stage of the project is revealed. The research highlights limitations inherent in current approaches to the management of CHPtD and the need to develop a more robust theoretically based approach to integrating OHS considerations into construction design practice.

A case study analysis of fatal incidents involving excavators in the Australian construction industry

Purpose – The paper analyses the nature and causes of fatal incidents involving excavators occurring in the Australian construction industry. A three-level incident causation model developed by researchers at Loughborough University forms the theoretical framework for this analysis, which seeks to identify immediate circumstances, shaping factors and originating influences in selected incidents. Design/methodology/approach – Case study incidents were identified from the National Coronial Information System database. These incidents were subjected to content analysis to identify causal factors. Findings – Ten cases were analysed in total. In all of these cases immediate circumstances could be identified. These included the use of unsafe work methods and the condition, suitability or useability of plant. In several cases shaping factors, such as communication between work-team members and the design of work processes, were identified as likely contributors to the incidents. In none of the cases could origin...