Discrepancies between Management and Labor Perceptions of Construction Site Safety

摘要

This paper analyses the construction safety climate awareness gap between management and labor. We first review recent developments in construction hazards in Taiwan, integrating factors taken from safety climate-related studies. We then develop five measurement dimensions and devise a 32 question "Construction Staff Safety Climate Awareness survey. Results are subjected to SPSS17.0 to statistical analysis to explore the awareness gap for safety climate among construction personnel. Research results show that management is more aware than labor of safety climate issues, with the smallest awareness gap occurring in the "assist fellow peers" dimension, and the largest occurring in "risk decision-making". Pearson analysis showed no significant correlation between risk decision-making and assist fellow peers behavior. Survey results show positive correlations among the measurement dimensions (good safety attitude, safety training and policy, risk decision-making, safety commitment and communication, and assist fellow peers). Tukey comparison of results shows an awareness gap between management and labor in terms of worksite safety, with a particularly large gap regarding risk decision-making. Risk decision-making, training and policies, commitment and communications are all positively correlated. This will allow for the strengthening of safety training and the development of a code of practice by which the overall safety climate can be effectively enhanced, thus reducing the accident rate.