McKillop, R; Hare, B and Lawani, K (2022) Evaluating the health and safety practices of construction small and medium-sized enterprise leaders. In: Tutesigensi, A and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 38th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2022, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK.
Abstract
The construction industry is a high-risk industry and a top-five contributor to non-fatal injuries in the UK. The industry is dependent on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and reportable accidents are most often attributable to the SME sector. This study focuses on the role of the leader (Owners/Directors) of SMEs in improving health and safety performance. An initial study with six construction health and safety experts was undertaken before qualitative semi-structured interviews with thirty-two Owners/Directors of Construction SMEs. These interviews evaluate the experience and perceptions of the construction leader’s practices through a '4P', Qualitative analysis. Focusing on the leader’s characteristics revealed that leaders tend to seek similar positive attitudes and behaviours within followers. It was also found that Leaders consistently try to positively change the follower’s understanding and behaviour, sometimes overlooking negative behaviour due to pressures from the main contractor to comply with the programme of work.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | health and safety, leaders, SMEs, performance, practices. |
| Index terms: | owner, programme, main contractor, interview, health and safety, injury, construction industry, health and safety practices, qualitative analysis |
| Subjects: | practitioner, research design and methodology, data collection methods, industry analysis, sociology, health conditions and diseases, occupational health and safety management, project controls, health safety and environment |
| Topics: | Time Control, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Health and Safety, Research Practice |
| 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