Linking organizational safety support to safety citizenship behavior among construction workers via self-efficacy: the moderating role of trust

Purpose While organizational safety support is believed to foster safety citizenship behavior (SCB) among construction workers, the specific impacts of various forms of organization safety support and their underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This gap limits a deeper understanding of how safety support operates and what constitutes the most effective safety practices and tailored interventions. Therefore, this study delved into the relationships between three types of safety support perceived by workers from different levels of the organization (i.e., top management, supervisor, and coworkers) and two types of SCB (prosocial/proactive safety behavior). Design/methodology/approach Based on a quantitative research method, data were collected from 526 construction workers using a structured questionnaire. The observed variables were tested using confirmatory factor analysis, and the path coefficients of the fitted model were subsequently analyzed, including examination of associated mediating and moderating effects. Findings The findings revealed that (1) all three types of perceived organizational safety support were positively associated with prosocial safety behavior, while proactive safety behavior was positively linked to safety support from top management and supervisors; (2) workers' self-efficacy mediated the relationships between various forms of organizational safety support and SCB; and (3) the moderating role of workers' trust varied across the three types of safety support. Specifically, workers' trust in top management positively moderated the direct relationship between top management safety support and proactive safety behavior. Additionally, both the direct and indirect relationships between supervisor safety support and proactive safety behavior, as well as coworker safety support and prosocial safety behavior, were positively moderated by workers' trust in supervisors and coworkers, respectively. Originality/value Theoretically, this study advances the understanding of how different types of organizational safety support enhance workers' self-efficacy, and thus, promoting SCB. Practically, this study offers implications on tailored interventions and safety practices aimed at improving construction workplace safety.