An exploratory study into UK construction industry response to digitalised health and safety management

Purpose – Workers are susceptible to high accident rates because of the nature of work in the construction sector. To improve the work environment, there have been calls for adopting digital technologies (DTs) in health and safety (H&S) management. However, the response and readiness to adopt these technologies in various countries are unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate the UK construction industry's response to adopt DTs for H&S management. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research approach was adopted to gather the required evidence to achieve the research aim. In all, 20 UK-based construction professionals with 5–33 years of experience were purposively selected from the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) and interviewed. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings – This study's findings revealed that the response of the UK construction professionals to the use of DTs for H&S management is that of resistance to new technologies, low knowledge and readiness in the workforce, varying receptiveness (because of factors like workers' age and size of company, concerns about reliability and data security, high implementation costs and fears about job security) and economic pressures, which are potential drivers of innovation. Originality/value – To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is among the first qualitative studies to empirically explore the perspective of key stakeholders in the UK on the use of DT in H&S management. This study contributes to the future adoption of DT in H&S management in the UK.