The impact of minor injury accident experience on unsafe behavior in construction: the mediating and moderating roles of psychological resilience

Purpose In the construction industry, minor injury accidents occur frequently and are often associated with the risk of more serious injuries. However, existing research has not yet reached a consistent conclusion regarding the relationship between minor injury accident experience and workers' unsafe behavior. To clarify the underlying mechanism, this study introduces psychological resilience and risk perception as mediating and moderating variables, constructing a mediation and moderation model aimed at systematically exploring the pathways through which minor injury accident experience influences unsafe behavior. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was conducted among 290 construction workers, followed by hypothesis testing using structural equation modeling. Findings The findings revealed that: (1) Minor injury accident experience has a significant negative impact on unsafe behavior, (2) Psychological resilience and risk perception play opposing mediating roles in this relationship and (3) Psychological resilience exerts a positive moderating effect between minor injury accident experience and unsafe behavior. The contributions of this study are threefold. Originality/value The contributions of this study are threefold. First, it elucidates the dual mediating and moderating roles of psychological resilience, resolving prior conflicting findings and uncovering the underlying mechanism. Second, by integrating the compensatory model of psychological resilience with social cognitive theory, it extends theoretical understanding of cognitive–behavioral pathways in construction safety. Third, based on the revealed mechanism, it proposes targeted management interventions to mitigate unsafe behaviors, providing a scientific foundation for designing more effective safety programs.