Loosemore, M; Sunindijo, R Y; Lestari, F; Kusminanti, Y and Widanarko, B (2019) Comparing the safety climate of the Indonesian and Australian construction industries: Cultural and institutional relativity in safety research. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 26(10), pp. 2206-2222. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess, compare and explain safety climate differences between the Indonesian and Australian construction industries. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reports a comparative safety climate survey of 415 construction personnel working in the Australian and Indonesia construction industries. Findings: Surprisingly, the results show that the safety climate in Indonesia and Australia are similar and that the differences in safety performance, safety climate must be interpreted within the context of wider health and safety norms, regulations, awareness, knowledge and typical work environments to make any sense. Research limitations/implications: This research contributes a missing international comparative dimension to the emerging research on construction safety climate. Indonesian studies are notably absent from this literature, despite the size of the country and the poor health and safety record of its construction industry. Similar comparisons between safety climate in other countries need to be made. Practical implications: This research allows construction managers operating across international boundaries to better understand the cultural and institutional context in which safety climate is developed. This will assist in the development of more culturally sensitive safety management strategies. Social implications: The construction industry’s poor safety record has serious implications for both individuals working in the industry, their immediate families and the communities in which they live. By improving the safety record of the industry these impacts can be reduced. Originality/value: This research reveals, for the first time, the cultural and institutional complexities of comparing safety climate across different countries. The results contribute to safety climate research by highlighting the importance of cultural and institutional relativity in making international comparisons of health and safety research.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Australia; culture; Indonesia; institutional relativity; safety climate |
| Index terms: | safety research, safety management, construction safety, boundaries, norms, safety performance, complexity, methodology, regulation, construction manager, construction personnel, strategy, survey, international comparison, health and safety, safety climate, dimension, construction industry, work environment, Australia, Indonesia |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, workforce, profession, property law, data analysis and analytics, health monitoring assessment and metrics, management, research methods, Geography, health safety and environment, occupational health and safety management, sociology, industry analysis, environmental health, political science, systems engineering |
| Topics: | Legal Issues, Human Resources, Organizational Design, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Engineering Principles, Roles and Professions, Sustainability, Governance |
| 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