Relationships of Work-Family Conflict with Safety, Performance, Occupational Injuries, and Pain Among Construction Workers

Construction industry is one of the most dangerous work environments and lapses in safe work practices can be hazardous, and jeopardize the safety and well-being of workers. The purpose ot this study was to integrate the work-family conflict (WFC) and occupational safety literatures by investigating the effects of WFC on safety performance, and occupational injuries and pain among construction workers. As a stressor, WFC reflects the conflict individuals experience when trying to juggle the demands of their family and work roles, which arises when demands in one domain (e.g., work) interfere with performance in the other domain (e.g., family) and vice versa. Consequently, WFC has the potential to negatively affect safe work practices by acting as an additional stressor for workers, reducing their resources and capability to perform their work well and safely. Thus, WFC was hypothesized to be negatively related to safety performance, and positively related to reports of occupational injuries and pain. In the present study, WFC was examined as a multidimensional variable based on direction (i.e., work interference with family, WIF; family interference with work, FIW) and type/source of conflict (i.e., strain-based and time-based). Similarly, safety performance was conceptualized and operationalized as consisting of two dimensions: safety compliance and safety participation. A series of multiple regressions were conducted, regressing each dependent variable (i.e., safety compliance, safety participation, injuries, and pain) on the four WFC predictors. Secondary data were used from part of a larger project entitled, 'Enhancing Safety through Leadership," which were previously collected via mailed and in-person surveys completed by 264 unionized journeymen and apprentices in the mechanical trades (pipefitters and plumbers) from Chicago (IL), Portland, (OR), and Denver (CO). The results indicated that strain-based work interference with family was significantly and negatively correlated with safety participation; additionally, participation was a significant predictor of occupational injuries and pain. In other words, construction workers, who experienced more strain-based conflict stemming from work, were also less likely to engage in extra-role safety behaviors at work, and reported more injuries and pain due to work. These findings underscore the importance of understanding and combating WFC in the construction industry through improved family-friendly organizational policies and supervisory practices.