Impact of Supervisory Safety Communication on Safety Climate and Behavior in Construction Workgroups

In industries in which organizations work in decentralized and distributed structures such as construction, workers are more likely to be influenced by their workgroup supervisors than upper-level management. A study was conducted to quantitatively examine the relationships among supervisory safety communication, group safety climate, and safety behaviors, as well as to qualitatively explore effective ways for supervisors to communicate safety expectations and information to workers. A survey was conducted among workers engaged in rail construction work in Melbourne, Australia. Survey data were collected from 20 workgroups across 11 different worksites. Participant observation was also performed on these worksites to observe safety-related interactions and communication between supervisors and workers. The quantitative research results show that supervisory safety communication practices play a critical role in shaping safety climate within workgroups, which subsequently affects workers' self-reported safety compliance and safety participation behaviors. The on-site participant observations identified various characteristics of effective safety communication between supervisors and coworkers, including regular engagement, consistent messages and actions, active listening, approachability, personal messages, and respectful delivery. The research results provide important practical implications for construction organizations to dedicate resources to developing supervisors' leadership capabilities and personal skills, which could contribute to improved safety communication and safety performance in the workplace.