Construction Worker Response to Unsafe Coworker Behavior: The Mediating Roles of Safety Silence and Role Stress and the Moderating Role of Psychological Contract of Safety
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 149, Issue 3
Abstract
Despite the prevalence of unsafe behaviors on construction sites, limited attention has been paid to why and when some individuals on construction crews imitate their coworkers’ unsafe behaviors. This research proposes a theoretical model wherein coworkers’ unsafe behaviors are transmitted to other individuals through two pathways: safety silence and role stress, which includes role conflict and role ambiguity. Furthermore, the psychological contract of safety acts as a boundary condition. Empirical data were collected using a questionnaire administered to 498 Chinese construction workers and were analyzed using structural equation modeling and hierarchical linear regression. The results indicated that individuals were more prone to violate safety rules when witnessing coworkers’ unsafe behaviors. These behaviors indirectly affected individuals through safety silence and role conflict. The psychological contract of safety could mitigate the adverse effect of coworkers’ unsafe behaviors on individual safety violations and role stress. The findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge by offering a deep understanding of construction workers’ responses toward unsafe behaviors. Practically, this research will assist managers in developing appropriate strategies for preventing the spread of unsafe behaviors within construction crews.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 9214025), Beijing Municipal Social Science Foundation (Grant No. 22GLC042), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 72002010).
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Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 149 • Issue 3 • March 2023
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 6, 2022
Accepted: Oct 31, 2022
Published online: Dec 24, 2022
Published in print: Mar 1, 2023
Discussion open until: May 24, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Business management
- Construction engineering
- Construction management
- Construction sites
- Contracts and subcontracts
- Dispute resolution
- Employment
- Human and behavioral factors
- Labor
- Legal affairs
- Occupational safety
- Personnel management
- Practice and Profession
- Public administration
- Public health and safety
- Safety
- Social factors
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