Kulchartchai, O and Hadikusumo, B H (2010) Exploratory study of obstacles in safety culture development in the construction industry: A grounded theory approach. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 15(1), pp. 45-66. ISSN 1823-6499
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to analyse the obstacles that prevent the development of a safety culture in Thailand's large construction industry from various managerial points of view. Qualitative research methods were used by performing a series of semi-structured interviews of eight case studies selected from six prominent construction firms to investigate the obstacles they face. Glaser's keyword coding from Grounded Theory (GT) was used to reduce the information load after the interviews. Our findings revealed that the factors influencing the successful development of a safety culture in the construction industry are the workers, the characteristics of construction, the subcontractors, the supervisors, and external factors. Based on the frequency analysis, the main obstacles in developing a safety culture result from problems related to the workers themselves. The three most frequently discussed problems are unskilled workers, unsafe worker habits, and high worker turnover. Our results also suggest that managers should encourage engagement from their workers to optimise the successful implementation of safety programs and their long-term improvement.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | grounded theory; keyword quoting; safety culture; Thailand construction industry; worker engagement |
| Index terms: | safety programs, subcontractor, habit, qualitative research method, face, worker engagement, exploratory study, construction firm, turnover, interview, manager, supervisor, construction industry, implementation, Thailand, grounded theory, safety culture, case study |
| Subjects: | Geography, health safety and environment, research methods, management, theoretical framing, industry analysis, occupational health and safety management, health behaviours and lifestyles, practitioner, organization, research design and methodology, data collection methods, business management, contractual arrangements, psychology |
| Topics: | Procurement, Roles and Professions, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Organizational Design, Human Resources |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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