A framework of safety culture for the Malaysian construction companies: a methodological development

Abstract

This research presents the methodological development of a framework for promoting safety culture for the Malaysian construction companies. There is no framework that has that been established in this context. The development will enable professionals to quantify and analyze safety culture in a consistent manner. A mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative was adopted, in which sample for the study was limited to selected building contractors (Grade 7) in the Klang Valley. The preliminary survey identified leadership, organisational commitment, management commitment, safety training, and resource allocation as practices which embed safety culture into organisational culture. Hence, the development of the main survey includes the identification of these behavioural factors and their further expansion to include the aspects of psychological and situational factors’ characteristics. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to provide new insights on the importance of communications which are founded on mutual trust, shared perceptions between the Senior Management, Safety Officer, and Site Supervisor within the organisations. The safety related representatives from the industry players are validated based on the appropriateness, the ease of use, and the coverage of the framework.