Understanding the Role of Social Influence on Construction Safety Using an Ego-Centric Network Approach

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how construction workers rely on each other on-site in terms of safety. The paper outlines how safety-oriented social networks of construction workers can be modeled to better understand the safety communication practices on site. Then, the paper presents how workers’ social networks affect their safety habits, confidence, risk perception, and overall perspective towards safety. In this regard, a social network survey is conducted, and the respondents’ social network data are collected using a personal network research design (PNRD) approach (also known as ego-centric networks) to study the connection between the individuals (ego) and their close contacts (alter). The gathered network data were used to establish their peer-to-peer relationships and quantify the influence of social network characteristics and communication patterns on their safety perspective. This social network analysis incorporated various socio-demographic factors (like experience, gender, race, degree of closeness, and network density) and the consequence of those variables on workers’ attitude towards construction safety. The findings from this study provide insights on the significance of different social dimensions and their impact on construction safety culture and performance. The results show how individual safety behavior and perception defer based on their social ties and interactions. The findings will also guide safety managers and decision-makers to improve safety culture on construction sites by offering a more holistic approach to safety management.