Role of psychological contract to influence safety behaviour at construction sites

Abstract

Viewing safety through the lens of the ‘Psychological Contract’ and considering the influence of supervisor on construction site, this research proposes a ‘Psychological Contract of Safety’ (PCS) which is based on the mutual obligations to safety between supervisor and workers, predicts safety behaviour at a construction site. In order to test this hypothesis, data were collected from a mega-construction project in Sydney, Australia. The empirical data indicates that there is a strong influence of the PCS on the safety behaviour of individual workers. Using Structural Equation Modelling this research tested a survey instrument that can be used in other construction settings to examine the strength of the mutual relationship between supervisors and workers and its influence on safety behaviour.