Using safety climate as a leading indicator in construction projects

Abstract

Construction industry in many jurisdictions are plagued by poor safety performance. Practitioners have therefore turned to the organisational and psychosocial factors to complement traditional means. Using safety climate-based intervention is one such drive. The initiative is predicated on the usefulness of safety climate as a diagnostic tool. Safety climate data can be used to examine an organisation’s safety management effectiveness by identifying and rectifying work-related hazards and system deficiencies. This prospective use of safety climate makes it possible to use safety climate as leading indicator to inform and predict the safety performance of an organisation. Based on the theoretical perspective of leading indicators for system safety combined with the use of safety climate dimensions, we develop a framework of drive and monitor leading indicators. We contend that the combined use of these leading and lagging indicators will ensure the development and control of the safety system that will eventually lead to improved safety performance.