Analysing the underlying factors affecting safety performance in building construction

Abstract

The Malaysian construction industry is stigma-laden ‘dangerous, dirty and difficult’ (3 D) with a high number of blue-collar foreign workers. Poor safety performance is undermining the public perception. The purpose of this study is to examine the current level of safety awareness in construction, to determine the significant factors affecting safety performance and to evaluate the potential measures for improving the construction workers’ safety awareness. A total of 27 reasons were first identified through a comprehensive literature review. A questionnaire survey then employed to evaluate the perceptions of construction personnel on the factors that affect safety performance and potential measures to improve safety awareness, in which the understanding on the hierarchy of controls is still lacking. The primary safety issues are: personal protective equipment (PPE), working environment, working attitude, communication and maintenance of equipment. Then, an exploratory factor analysis revealed eight underlying factors. The most effective preventive measure are: install fall protection system, effective communication and regular safety inspection. Finally, the relationships between the factors and preventive measures were identified using correlation tests. This paper provides more profound insights into the underlying factors affecting safety performance in construction and recommends feasible measures to raise safety awareness among the construction personnel.

Keywords:

• Safety awareness
• factor analysis
• construction projects
• accident prevention
• Malaysia

Acknowledgements

Special gratitude is also extended to those industrial practitioners who have responded to and contributed their valuable input in this research through their time and effort. The authors would also like to thank the reviewers for their constructive feedback, which have helped improve the quality of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeffrey Boon Hui Yap

Ir Dr Jeffrey Boon Hui Yap is an assistant professor in built environment at the Department of Surveying, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Kajang, Malaysia, and obtained his PhD in project management from International University of Malaya–Wales (IUMW), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in which he was recognised as IUMW Valedictorian (Best Student Award). He also holds an MSc in construction management and a BEng in civil engineering. He previously held managerial positions with several reputable property development companies and served as a design engineer with international civil and structural engineering consultancy firm in Malaysia. He is a professional engineer (PEng) registered with the Board of Engineers, Malaysia (BEM); a corporate member (MIEM) with the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM); and holds a project management professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI). He has published extensively in a range of leading journals in the areas of project management, construction engineering, knowledge management, and real estate studies. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Wen Kai Lee

Wen Kai Lee is a practising quantity surveyor in a construction organisation in Malaysia. He obtained his BSc in quantity surveying from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Kajang, Malaysia. He has a great interest in safety and health management in the construction workplace. He can be contacted at [email protected]