An Investigation of Factors that Impact Safety Culture and Safety Behaviour in a High-Risk Construction Organisation

This project investigated factors impacting safety culture and safety behaviour in a construction organisation through a multi-stage mixed methods approach. The construction sector in Australia is a high-risk industry that accounts for a significant incidence of injuries and fatalities. The project was undertaken in a foundation-specialised construction organisation facing allegations from SafeWork New South Wales (NSW) of safety breaches. The organisation proposed an ‘Enforceable Undertaking’ as an alternative to prosecution, which included a 24-month research project investigating factors that impact safety culture and safety behaviour in the construction industry. In Stage 1 (Study 1) an anonymous online and hard copy survey was administered to employees at all levels of the organisation to explore their perceptions and attitudes towards safety culture and safety behaviour (n=45). Findings suggested that enhancement of leadership involvement, the improvement of communication approaches, and the tailored application of interventions, could potentially facilitate a stronger safety culture and improve safety behaviours. Survey participants were invited to participate in Stage 2 (Study 2) which involved individual interviews exploring workers' perceptions and attitudes towards safety culture and safety behaviour in the construction industry and in their organisation. Interviews (n=12) with a range of employees (frontline workers, frontline supervisors, and senior management) found that consultation, time and financial constraints, administrative tasks, and training requirements are interconnected factors crucial for shaping safety and operational efficiency in construction projects. Findings from Stage 1 (Study 1) and Stage 2 (Study 2) were synthesised to provide specific recommendations to the organisation and to the construction industry more broadly. A key finding from this project was that consultation between construction project stakeholders (e.g. Tier 1 PCBU and Tier 2 Subcontractors) is an organisational factor that impacts safety culture and safety behaviour in the construction industry.