Knowledge capabilities, knowledge processes, and perceived safety management practices in railway construction projects

Railway construction relies on coordination across project organizations, yet evidence on how knowledge management relates to safety-management practices remains limited. This study examines associations among knowledge capabilities, knowledge processes and perceived safety-management practices in Thai railway projects. Questionnaire data were allocated chronologically to exploratory and confirmatory analyses (258 cases each). Principal-axis factoring (PAF) with Promax rotation, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) were applied. Parallel analysis favored six knowledge factors, but the sixth factor had no dominant indicator in a matched solution; five factors were retained provisionally. The seven-factor, 42-indicator CFA yielded CFI)=)0.856 and RMSEA)=)0.069; the parsimonious SEM yielded CFI)=)0.846 and RMSEA)=)0.071. Nine of ten displayed direct paths and four aggregate indirect effects had bias-corrected bootstrap intervals excluding zero. Excluding an outcome item that explicitly invoked organizational knowledge removed bootstrap support for one path. The study offers a qualified capability-process-practice account for examining how project teams manage knowledge and reported safety routines. Construct overlap, modest model fit and self-reported outcomes limit inference; verified accident or injury reductions were not assessed.