Baarts, C (2009) Collective individualism: The informal and emergent dynamics of practising safety in a high-risk work environment. Construction Management and Economics, 27(10), pp. 949-957. ISSN 1466433X
Abstract
Safety knowledge appears to be 'a doing'. In construction work safety is practised in the complex interrelationship between the individual, pair and gang. Thus the aim is to explore the nature and scope of individualist and collectivist preferences pertaining to the practice of safety at a construction site. An ethnographic fieldwork, in which the researcher worked as an apprentice, will provide detailed and experience-near insights into the complexity of these processes. Findings show that individualist and collectivist preferences influence the amount of risk the individual worker will assume and expose workmates to. Aspects such as self-regulation, self-confidence and independence are acceptable values only to the extent that they do not pose a threat to the solidarity of the community or safety of other workers. The informal practice of safety is a tight-rope act that involves balancing the form and scope of these preferences.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | collectivism; ethnography; individualism; safety; teamwork |
| Index terms: | ethnography, teamwork, dynamics, work environment, construction work, construction site, preference, complexity, self-regulation |
| Subjects: | qualitative and interpretive research, decision-making and reasoning, management, systems engineering, behavioral psychology, operations management, work location |
| Topics: | Site Management, Organizational Design, Research Practice, Project Management, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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