Construction Workers’ Unsafe Behavior Contagion under Government-Contractor Dual Influence
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 150, Issue 9
Abstract
Despite efforts to prevent and correct unsafe behavior on construction sites, such behavior persists among construction workers. Much of what makes unsafe behavior so difficult to eradicate is its contagious nature. The contagion pattern of unsafe behavior is not only based on the group characteristics of construction workers but also influenced by government regulatory agencies (GRA) and general contractors (GC). In this study, we established a contagion model of construction workers’ unsafe behavior based on group-level factors and the dual influence of GRA and GC and employed evolutionary game theory and epidemic models to explore the contagion patterns and interventions of unsafe behavior. We find that, although the strong and weak regulation strategies by GRA suppress the contagion of unsafe behavior, the strong regulation strategy exhibits a better preventive effect; further, the active management strategies by GC have a dampening effect on the contagion of unsafe behavior and vice versa, enhanced perceived social benefits of GRA prevent unsafe behavior more than enhanced perceived image loss, and a high degree of group identity perception effectively inhibits the contagion of unsafe behavior when construction workers have relatively high levels of safety awareness. By portraying the contagion state of construction workers’ unsafe behavior in actual situations, this study provides a theoretical basis for the decision-making of GRA and GC and helps to improve the work efficiency of GRA as well as the safety management level of GC.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or codes that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This material is based in part upon work supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 71971045 and 72001160, and the Top Discipline Plan of Shanghai Universities-Class I. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.
References
Ayhan, B. U., and O. B. Tokdemir. 2020. “Accident analysis for construction safety using latent class clustering and artificial neural networks.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 146 (3): 04019114. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001762.
Cao, Q., K. Yu, L. Zhou, L. Wang, and C. Li. 2019. “In-depth research on qualitative simulation of coal miners’ group safety behaviors.” Saf. Sci. 113 (Dec): 210–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2018.11.012.
Chen, F., H. Chen, D. Guo, S. Han, and R. Long. 2018. “How to achieve a cooperative mechanism of MSW source separation among individuals—An analysis based on evolutionary game theory.” J. Cleaner Prod. 195 (Mar): 521–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.05.226.
Chen, Q., and R. Jin. 2013. “Multilevel safety culture and climate survey for assessing new safety program.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 139 (Mar): 805–817. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000659.
Chong, H. Y., and T. S. Low. 2014. “Accidents in Malaysian construction industry: Statistical data and court cases.” Int. J. Occup. Saf. Eng. 20 (3): 503–513. https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2014.11077064.
Christakis, N. A., and J. H. Fowler. 2013. “Social contagion theory: Examining dynamic social networks and human behavior.” Stat. Med. 32 (4): 556–577. https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.5408.
Daley, D. J., and D. G. Kendall. 1964. “Epidemics and rumours.” Nature 204 (4963): 1118. https://doi.org/10.1038/2041118a0.
Fang, D., C. Wu, and H. Wu. 2015. “Impact of the supervisor on worker safety behavior in construction projects.” J. Manage. Eng. 31 (6): 04015001. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000355.
Feng, Q., X. Shi, and J. Zhang. 2019. “Influence of rent-seeking on safety supervision in Chinese construction: Based on a simulation technology.” Technol. Forecasting Social Change 138 (Mar): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.10.016.
Friedman, D. 1998. “On economic applications of evolutionary game theory.” J. Evol. Econ. 8 (1): 15–43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s001910050054.
Gao, Y., V. A. González, and T. W. Yiu. 2020. “Exploring the relationship between construction workers’ personality traits and safety behavior.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 146 (3): 04019111. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001763.
Guo, S., P. Zhang, and J. Yang. 2018. “System dynamics model based on evolutionary game theory for quality supervision among construction stakeholders.” J. Civ. Eng. Manage. 24 (4): 318–330. https://doi.org/10.3846/jcem.2018.3068.
Han, Y., Z. Feng, J. Zhang, R. Jin, and E. Aboagye-Nimo. 2019. “Employees’ safety perceptions of site hazard and accident scenes.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 145 (1): 04018117. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001590.
Han, Y., J. Li, X. Cao, and R. Jin. 2020. “Structural equation modeling approach to studying the relationships among safety investment, construction employees’ safety cognition, and behavioral performance.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 146 (7): 04020065. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001858.
He, C., B. McCabe, G. Jia, and J. Sun. 2020. “Effects of safety climate and safety behavior on safety outcomes between supervisors and construction workers.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 146 (1): 04019092. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001735.
Hu, Z., W. T. Chan, H. Hu, and F. Xu. 2023. “Cognitive factors underlying unsafe behaviors of construction workers as a tool in safety management: A review.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 149 (3): 03123001. https://doi.org/10.1061/JCEMD4.COENG-11820.
Huo, H.-F., P. Yang, and H. Xiang. 2018. “Stability and bifurcation for an SEIS epidemic model with the impact of media.” Physica A. 490 (Jan): 702–720. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2017.08.139.
ILO (International Labor Organization). 2022 “Data explorer.” Accessed November 29, 2022. https://www.ilo.org/shinyapps/bulkexplorer4/.
Jiang, H., J. Wang, Y. Han, and H. Yin. 2018. “Structural equation model analysis of factors in the spread of unsafe behavior among construction workers.” Information 9 (2): 39. https://doi.org/10.3390/info9020039.
Jiang, X., H. Sun, K. Lu, S. Lyu, and M. Skitmore. 2022. “Using evolutionary game theory to study construction safety supervisory mechanism in China.” Eng. Constr. Archit. 30 (2): 514–537. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-03-2020-0182.
Johari, S., and K. N. Jha. 2021. “Learning curve models for construction workers.” J. Manage. Eng. 37 (5): 04021042. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000941.
Kahneman, D., and A. Tversky. 2012. “Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk.” In Handbook of the fundamentals of financial decision making, world scientific handbook in financial economics, 99–127. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Kang, Y., S. Siddiqui, S. J. Suk, S. Chi, and C. Kim. 2017. “Trends of fall accidents in the US construction industry.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 143 (8): 04017043. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001332.
Li, H., M. Lu, S.-C. Hsu, M. Gray, and T. Huang. 2015. “Proactive behavior-based safety management for construction safety improvement.” Saf. Sci. 75 (May): 107–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.01.013.
Li, W., T. Zhou, Q. Mei, X. Liu, and M. Imran. 2022. “Evolution of micro and small enterprises’ work safety behavior in high-risk industries.” Small Bus. Econ. 60 (1): 85–104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-022-00638-1.
Liang, H., X. Shi, K. Liu, and W. Cong. 2023. “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.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 149 (3): 04022180. https://doi.org/10.1061/JCEMD4.COENG-12228.
Liu, Q., T. Li, and M. Sun. 2017. “The analysis of an SEIR rumor propagation model on heterogeneous network.” Physica A. 469 (Mar): 372–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2016.11.067.
Liu, Q., N. Xu, H. Jiang, S. Wang, W. Wang, and J. Wang. 2020. “Psychological driving mechanism of safety citizenship behaviors of construction workers: Application of the theory of planned behavior and norm activation model.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 146 (4): 04020027. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001793.
Liu, Y., X. Wang, and D. Wang. 2021. “How leaders and coworkers affect construction workers’ safety behavior: An integrative perspective.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 147 (12): 04021176. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0002215.
Lu, M., C. M. Cheung, H. Li, and S.-C. Hsu. 2016. “Understanding the relationship between safety investment and safety performance of construction projects through agent-based modeling.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 94 (Mar): 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2016.05.014.
Ma, L., H. Guo, and Y. Fang. 2021. “Analysis of construction workers’ safety behavior based on Myers-Briggs type indicator personality test in a bridge construction project.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 147 (1): 04020149. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001958.
Meng, X., Z. Cai, S. Si, and D. Duan. 2021. “Analysis of epidemic vaccination strategies on heterogeneous networks: Based on SEIRV model and evolutionary game.” Appl. Math. Comput. 403 (Aug): 126172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amc.2021.126172.
Pi, Z., X. Gao, L. Chen, and J. Liu. 2019. “The new path to improve construction safety performance in China: An evolutionary game theoretic approach.” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 16 (13): 2443. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16132443.
Piovella, N. 2020. “Analytical solution of SEIR model describing the free spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Chaos Soliton. Fract. 140 (Nov): 110243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chaos.2020.110243.
Quartey, S. H. 2017. “Examining employees’ safety behaviours: An industry-level investigation from Ghana.” Personnel Rev. 46 (8): 1915–1930. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-06-2016-0146.
Rubio-Romero, J. C., M. Carmen Rubio Gámez, and J. A. Carrillo-Castrillo. 2013. “Analysis of the safety conditions of scaffolding on construction sites.” Saf. Sci. 55 (Jun): 160–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2013.01.006.
Shealy, T., L. Klotz, E. U. Weber, E. J. Johnson, and R. G. Bell. 2016. “Using framing effects to inform more sustainable infrastructure design decisions.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 142 (9): 04016037. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001152.
Taylor, P. D., and L. B. Jonker. 1978. “Evolutionary stable strategies and game dynamics.” Math. Biosci. 40 (1): 145–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/0025-5564(78)90077-9.
van den Driessche, P., and J. Watmough. 2002. “Reproduction numbers and sub-threshold endemic equilibria for compartmental models of disease transmission.” Math. Biosci. 180 (1): 29–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-5564(02)00108-6.
Xu, Z., K. Li, M. Sun, and X. Fu. 2019. “Interaction between epidemic spread and collective behavior in scale-free networks with community structure.” J. Theor. Biol. 462 (Feb): 122–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2018.11.003.
You, M., S. Li, D. Li, and Q. Xia. 2019. “Study on the influencing factors of miners’ unsafe behavior propagation.” Front. Psychol. 10 (2): 2467. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02467.
Zhang, S., J. Teizer, J.-K. Lee, C. M. Eastman, and M. Venugopal. 2013. “Building information modeling (BIM) and safety: Automatic safety checking of construction models and schedules.” Autom. Constr. 29 (Jun): 183–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2012.05.006.
Zhang, Y., X. Yi, S. Li, and H. Qiu. 2023. “Evolutionary game of government safety supervision for prefabricated building construction using system dynamics.” Eng. Constr. Archit. Manage. 30 (7): 2947–2968. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-06-2021-0501.
Zhao, H., and Y. Ge. 2023. “Optimal operation mode selection of sponge city PPP projects using IFSS-prospect theory and VIKOR approach: A case study in China.” Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 30 (26): 68206–68226. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26854-0.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 150 • Issue 9 • September 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 17, 2023
Accepted: Mar 27, 2024
Published online: Jul 3, 2024
Published in print: Sep 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Dec 3, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.