Oswald, D; Wade, F; Sherratt, F and Smith, S D (2019) Communicating health and safety on a multinational construction project: Challenges and strategies. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 145(4): 04019017, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The health and safety (H&S) of workers is a critical project management goal in construction. As globalization and migrant movement increases, construction projects are becoming more nationally diverse. Among multinational workforces, language barriers present an obvious but largely unresolved H&S communication challenge, with current strategies in use yet to be assessed. On a large construction project in the United Kingdom, H&S communication strategies were explored through an ethnographic approach. This paper contributes by revealing the impracticalities of using employees as interpreters in workgroups of six or more and the limitations of technologies in a dynamic construction site environment. It also highlights the unresolved challenge of translating safety videos in multiple languages. Challenges arose including translators refusing to translate because they were not receiving extra financial benefits or recognition in their workload. Translators were also given favorable treatment during disciplinary processes because they were crucial to the continued operation of the site team. This reveals the complexities involved in implementing effective H&S communication strategies on international and multinational projects, which have previously remained largely ignored.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | communication; ethnography; migrant workers; multinational; safety |
| Index terms: | construction site, strategy, United Kingdom, workload, large construction project, health and safety, movement, complexity, construction project, globalization, migrant worker, ethnography, becoming, project management |
| Subjects: | management, health safety and environment, organizational theory, Geography, production management, qualitative and interpretive research, project management theory and practice, philosophical process, systems engineering, economic factors, health behaviours and lifestyles, work location |
| Topics: | International Construction, Human Resources, Site Management, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Project Management, Health and Safety, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here