Safety Climate in High-Rise Construction

This study examines safety climate perceptions in construction using two models: the Safety Climate Model (SCM) and the Nordic Safety Climate Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50). Data from 20 projects of various sizes (ranging from 11 to 50 floors) and company years of experience (1-25+) were analyzed using the 5-point Likert scale and ANOVA tests. SCM and NOSACQ-50 contained 10 and 7 questions, respectively. Responses were gathered from safety officers and supervisors. Results revealed insights into safety culture and the impact of management practices on safety perceptions in high-rise construction. The study found that safety climate perceptions were relatively poor, with a score of 3.865 for the SCM and 3.600 for NOSACQ-50. The findings emphasize the need for stronger safety practices at higher organizational levels, particularly in management, expressed by the findings of 3.3 and 3.5 in means of management commitment and safety climate fostering in NOSACQ-50 and the relatively large variance in the NOSACQ-50 model (0.23), control, and leadership. Cronbach’s alpha values were 0.935 and 0.943 for SCM and NOSACQ-50, respectively, indicating internal adherence of the models to safety practices. A moderate positive correlation of 0.470 between the two models suggests that both measures overlap but there exist distinct aspects of safety perceptions. In SCM, the highest-rated factors were safety equipment availability and employee participation in safety training, and employees feel the company prioritizes their well-being, highlighting the importance of resources and engagement. Current work pace does not compromise safety measures and protocols received the lowest score. In NOSACQ-50, the highest scores were for management’s commitment to safety and safety communication, while the lowest scores were found for management actions, reflecting their commitment to worker safety management and employees’ shared responsibility, suggesting areas for future improvement. The study underscores that project size and company years of experience do not significantly affect safety perceptions, but effective safety communication, management commitment, and employee engagement are crucial. The findings indicate that the NOSACQ-50 better elucidates safety climate core performance as depicted by the larger coefficient of variance (0.23 compared to 0.16).