Behaviour-based safety management in Hong Kong's construction industry: the results of a field study

Helen Lingard and Steve Rowlinson

Construction Management and Economics, 1998, vol. 16, issue 4, 481-488

Abstract: Hong Kong's construction industry has had a poor site safety record for over a decade. Behaviour-based methods of safety management (BSM) have proved successful in other industries and in other countries. Hence, this study aimed to test the effectiveness of BSM by applying goal-setting and feedback interventions to specific areas of safety performance on Hong Kong Housing Authority construction sites. Using a within-group experimental design and with the use of a proportional rating safety measurement instrument, data were collected on the effectiveness of BSM on Hong Kong sites. The data were recognized as time series data; this has been a serious methodological oversight in much previous research. The data were analysed using autoregressive moving averages models, and the results were mixed in that a significant improvement in safety performance occurred in the housekeeping category of intervention but no improvement was observed in the access to heights and bamboo scaffolding categories. Based on these results a goal setting/expectancy theory model of site safety improvement has been synthesized, and the lack of provision of an adequate safety infrastructure has been identified as a serious impediment to improvement.

Keywords: Safety; Motivation; Behaviour-based Methods; Goal Setting; Feedback; Intervention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1080/014461998372259

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