Psychological Contract of Safety and Construction Worker Behavior: Felt Safety Responsibility and Safety-Specific Trust as Mediators
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 147, Issue 11
Abstract
The psychological contract of safety (PCS) can be understood as the beliefs of employees regarding the reciprocal safety obligations between themselves and their supervisors. Although research has established that PCS is critical to safety management in construction sites, there is limited evidence on how PCS affects construction workers’ safety behavior, including compliance and participation. Building upon the psychological contract theory and social exchange theory, this study investigates the mediating mechanisms that link PCS to safety compliance and safety participation, that is, felt safety responsibility and safety-specific trust in supervisors. Overall, 389 valid data points from multiple sources comprising construction workers and their supervisors from 15 construction projects were collected. The results reveal that felt safety responsibility and safety-specific trust in supervisors partially mediate the relationships between PCS and both safety compliance and safety participation. The findings extend the safety behavior literature by clarifying the two distinct PCS processes toward safety behavior. Interventions should target improving employees’ perception of PCS to support their engagement in safety behavior.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all of the respondents who answered our questionnaire. We would also like to express our gratitude to the editor and anonymous reviewers of this paper for their work and contributions. The authors thank an anonymous reviewer for additional analyses in the “Supplementary Analysis” section.
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Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 147 • Issue 11 • November 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Dec 1, 2020
Accepted: Jul 20, 2021
Published online: Sep 2, 2021
Published in print: Nov 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Feb 2, 2022
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