Rawlinson, F and Farrell, P (2008) Construction: A culture for concern? In: Dainty, A (ed.) Proceedings of 24th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2008, Cardiff, UK.
Abstract
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) study into 100 accidents found that poor safety culture was a key factor in over half of incidents reviewed. A culture can be defined as beliefs of society, represented through words and actions, ideas of what is held as important and expectations of acceptable behaviour. Clients arguably instil a culture of speed by placing great emphasis on completion of projects to time and cost budgets. Employers and operatives routinely promote piecework payments and transitory methods of employment; productivity is king. A predominantly male environment promotes a macho culture affecting certain behaviours including risk taking, bravado and high levels of physical exertion. The World Health Organisation has stated that 'masculinity may be hazardous to health'. Safety culture is just one facet of site culture as a whole. Australian research shows there is a strong perception that culture of the construction industry can inhibit adoption of a proactive safety culture. The objective of this study is to establish and gain understanding about the areas of potential friction between site and safety culture. A literature review has been undertaken and qualitative data collected through six in-depth interviews. The population is operatives working for members of the Major Contractors Group (MCG) on large projects. In addition to the need for safety training, education is also required to bring about an understanding of the principles and creation of a belief in the system; but to educate many operatives to desired levels represents a considerable challenge. A fundamental cultural change is also required within the industry itself, and further conclusions are still under development. The study is at the early stage of a PhD.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | culture; education; health and safety; operatives |
| Index terms: | society, health and safety, safety culture, masculinity, interview, risk taking, health and safety executive, literature review, productivity, employment, placing, population, operative, safety training, cultural change, construction industry |
| Subjects: | data analysis and analytics, data collection methods, practitioner, occupational health and safety management, demography, sociology, industry analysis, communities and social development, concrete and cementitious materials, management, decision-making and reasoning, health safety and environment |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Construction Materials, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Urban Studies, Human Resources, Organizational Design |
| 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