TY - JOUR
T1 - Relational approach in managing construction project safety: A social capital perspective
AU - Koh, Tas Yong
AU - Rowlinson, Steve
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge funding provided by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (grant 716606E and 715807E ) in enabling this research.
PY - 2012/9
Y1 - 2012/9
N2 - Existing initiatives in the management of construction project safety are largely based on normative compliance and error prevention, a risk management approach. Although advantageous, these approaches are not wholly successful in further lowering accident rates. A major limitation lies with the approaches' lack of emphasis on the social and team processes inherent in construction project settings. We advance the enquiry by invoking the concept of social capital and project organisational processes, and their impacts on project safety performance. Because social capital is a primordial concept and affects project participants' interactions, its impact on project safety performance is hypothesised to be indirect, i.e. the impact of social capital on safety performance is mediated by organisational processes in adaptation and cooperation. A questionnaire survey was conducted within Hong Kong construction industry to test the hypotheses. 376 usable responses were received and used for analyses. The results reveal that, while the structural dimension is not significant, the mediational thesis is generally supported with the cognitive and relational dimensions affecting project participants' adaptation and cooperation, and the latter two processes affect safety performance. However, the cognitive dimension also directly affects safety performance. The implications of these results for project safety management are discussed.
AB - Existing initiatives in the management of construction project safety are largely based on normative compliance and error prevention, a risk management approach. Although advantageous, these approaches are not wholly successful in further lowering accident rates. A major limitation lies with the approaches' lack of emphasis on the social and team processes inherent in construction project settings. We advance the enquiry by invoking the concept of social capital and project organisational processes, and their impacts on project safety performance. Because social capital is a primordial concept and affects project participants' interactions, its impact on project safety performance is hypothesised to be indirect, i.e. the impact of social capital on safety performance is mediated by organisational processes in adaptation and cooperation. A questionnaire survey was conducted within Hong Kong construction industry to test the hypotheses. 376 usable responses were received and used for analyses. The results reveal that, while the structural dimension is not significant, the mediational thesis is generally supported with the cognitive and relational dimensions affecting project participants' adaptation and cooperation, and the latter two processes affect safety performance. However, the cognitive dimension also directly affects safety performance. The implications of these results for project safety management are discussed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84861908710&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.aap.2011.03.020
DO - 10.1016/j.aap.2011.03.020
M3 - Article
C2 - 22664677
AN - SCOPUS:84861908710
SN - 0001-4575
VL - 48
SP - 134
EP - 144
JO - Accident Analysis and Prevention
JF - Accident Analysis and Prevention
ER -