A study of management attitudes to a performance approach to construction worker safety

The construction industry remains the most dangerous industrial sector to be employed in. This poor safety and health performance record has resulted in safety and health regulations being subjected to major revisions in many countries during the last three decades. In several cases, new legislative and regulatory approaches have replaced existing regulations and legislation. The international trend of moving away from deemed-to-comply or command-and-control approaches to a performance-based approach presents formidable challenges to the construction industry. Changing to a performance approach demands a radical departure from the old way that contractors conduct their business. This change requires a paradigm shift and as such will be difficult to bring about. However, without management of construction firms supporting and driving the change, it is unlikely that the performance approach could be implemented effectively and successfully. Executive commitment and investment is demanded that is cognitive, emotional and financial, but also consistently visible. This paper discusses the results of a survey of managers of construction firms in the United States regarding their attitude to a performance approach to construction safety. The objective of the study was to measure the support for a change from the present prescriptive paradigm to a performance one. The findings suggest that management of construction firms supported the introduction and implementation of a performance approach to construction worker safety.