The effect of time on safety incentive programs in the US construction industry

Gangwar, M and Goodrum, P M (2005) The effect of time on safety incentive programs in the US construction industry. Construction Management and Economics, 23(8), pp. 851-859. ISSN 01446193

Abstract

Recently, safety incentive programs have been under scrutiny by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration for their effectiveness to improve construction safety performance. Most of the previous research on construction safety incentives focused on anecdotal evidence examining the merits and demerits of safety incentives. Meanwhile, the long-term effect of safety incentive programs on construction safety remains uncertain. This research examined how key safety performance indicators changed over time in the presence of safety incentive programs in the US construction industry using primary survey data. The paper's key finding is that the effectiveness of safety incentive programs does diminish with time, as suspected by earlier experts and managers in the US construction industry.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: construction; incentive; motivation; personnel management; safety
Index terms: construction industry, presence, effectiveness, occupational safety and health, survey, motivation, manager, personnel, safety performance, construction safety, evidence, program
Subjects: environmental science, psychology, practitioner, data collection methods, evaluation and assessment methods, industry analysis, environmental health, occupational health and safety management, management, performance management, software systems
Topics: Sustainability, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Quality Management, Human Resources, Digital Applications
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