Critical Factors That Impact Construction Workers’ Hazard Recognition Performance

Abstract

Most safety initiatives in the construction industry are implemented to manage recognized hazards. Therefore, proper hazard recognition is often the first step to develop effective field-based hazard management strategies. Despite its significance, recent research has demonstrated that construction workers are often unable to recognize hazards sufficiently in dynamic and rapidly changing environments. These unrecognized and unmanaged hazards can potentially result in catastrophic accidents and injuries. Although few studies have developed strategies to improve hazard recognition in general, a thorough understanding of factors impacting worker’s hazard recognition performance is lacking. In this study, through interviews with construction managers and safety professionals, and a thorough review of literature; 36 critical factors impacting worker’s hazard recognition were identified. Examining the identified factors revealed that a multilevel construct existed among factors, and consequently the underlying factors were clustered as personal, organizational, social, situational and industry-related, and miscellaneous factors. After compiling the factors, the participating experts reviewed the factors and validated the findings. The findings of this study can be used by practicing construction professionals to improve hazard recognition during pre-task safety meetings, and to develop a conductive climate that facilitates hazard recognition and management.