Afuye, O O; Oladimeji, O; Aina, O O; Tam, V W Y and Haddad, A N (2025) Factors influencing safety behaviours of construction tradesmen. International Journal of Construction Management, 25(4), pp. 375-384. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) observed that 90% of fatalities arise from the familiar 'fatal four': falls, electrocutions, stuck-bys and caught in-between. American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) also fingered other four hazards due to exposures on construction jobs not paid attention to yet far more construction workers suffer chronic injuries or illness. These infamous concerns make research findings on factors influencing safety behaviours of construction workers ever relevant and this is the focus of this paper. A total of 117 construction tradesmen out of the 159 sampled within Lagos indicated their degree of agreement with factors capable of influencing construction workers' safety behaviour on a five-point Likert scale. These were factors adjudged to influence construction workers safety behaviour based on extant literature. The data were analysed using Mean Item Score and Factor Analysis. Construction tradesmen agreed that they are influenced by 25 of the 37 (67.56%) identified factors influencing safety behaviour firms of construction workers. Meanwhile, construction firms' management commitment to the safety behaviour of tradesmen is the most prominent principal factor. The commitment of the management in developing safety initiatives, training, provision of personal protective equipment, and enforcement of safety rules among others will enhance safety behaviour among construction tradesmen. The study only assessed the opinions of tradesmen in the construction industry in Lagos state. The identified factors might not be generalized to construction professionals. This paper recommends that construction managers make deliberate effort in enhancing good safe behaviour of their tradesmen. This will improve their physical wellbeing, boost construction health and safety in the construction industry and significantly reduce construction fatalities. This paper fulfils a present pertinent need of reducing construction fatalities by focusing on factors influencing the safety behaviour of construction tradesmen.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction managers' commitment; construction tradesmen; Lagos; safety behaviour |
| Index terms: | fatalities, enforcement, construction worker, construction industry, occupational safety and health, factor analysis, Lagos, construction professional, Lagos State, personal protective equipment, illness, safety behaviour, falls, exposure, Likert scale, construction manager, well-being, construction firm, commitment, injury, health and safety |
| Subjects: | mental health and wellbeing, profession, data collection methods, professional development, public and environmental health, health risk and incident analysis, statistical analysis, industry analysis, health conditions and diseases, occupational health and safety management, practitioner, organization, psychology, Geography, health safety and environment |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Information Management, Business Strategy, Roles and Professions, Organizational Design, Geographical Context, Health and Safety |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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