Safety climate, safety hazards and organizational practices in the construction industry in Colombia

The overall aim of the study was to assess perceptions of safety climate and its potential association with the work environment conditions in the construction industry. The study was conducted in four parts. The first part was an evaluation of the perceptions of safety climate across different job positions at the construction sites. Using a 50-item safety climate questionnaire, construction workers, supervisors and site managers were surveyed to evaluate their perceptions regarding safety priorities at the work place. It was found that perceptions of safety climate differed across hierarchical groups, workers' perceptions being lower than supervisors' and manager's perceptions.;The second part of the study examined the association between the management safety practices implemented at the construction sites and construction workers' perceptions of safety climate. This study measured four groups of management safety practices: 1) those focused on improving the worksite hazard profile; 2) those focused on enhancing management commitment with safety; 3) those focused on improving safety systems; and 4) those focused on promoting workers participation. This part of the study showed that workers' perceptions of safety climate were independent of safety management practices implemented at the studied companies.;The third section of this study examined the association between fall hazards and manual material risk factors and perceptions of safety climate among construction site personnel. The presence of these hazards was assessed by direct observation and characterized both quantitatively and quantitatively. It was found that fall hazards observed were negatively associated with workers' perceptions of safety climate, while no association was identified between the presence of fall hazards and site managers' perceptions of safety. Further, no associations were found between manual material handling hazards and construction workers' nor site managers' perceptions of safety climate.;The final section of this study was a qualitative analysis evaluating the perceptions of safety climate from construction workers, field supervisors and site managers on the construction sites. The perceptions of safety climate were sorted into four levels using as a framework the socio-ecological model: individual factors, interpersonal relationships, organizational environment, and societal factors. The qualitative approach supported several aspects of the quantitative analysis conducted in the first part of this study. For example, there was evidence that suffering minor injuries was regarded as a normal part of the job and of lack of coworkers' support when it was needed to comply with safety procedures. Moreover, a disconnection from the work environment realities was notable among site and project managers.;Understanding the nature of the relationships between safety climate, organizational practices, and hazards conditions at the construction workplace is important in order to effectively diagnose underlying causes of safety gaps and develop comprehensive safety interventions to enhance workers' safety and health at the construction sites.