IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/conmgt/v33y2015i8p640-652.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social identity in the construction industry: implications for safety perception and behaviour

Author

Listed:
  • L.P. Andersen
  • I.L. Karlsen
  • P. Kines
  • T. Joensson
  • K.J. Nielsen

Abstract

The construction industry has one of the highest frequency levels and rates of work-related injuries, yet the evidence for successful attempts to reduce injuries is generally lacking. The motivational and (safety) behavioural implications of social identification and social categorization among construction labourer work crews were investigated to ascertain how their interactions are affected by the social structure and organization of work. Semi-structured group interviews and mini interviews during work were carried out with 13 concrete work crews (totalling 53 persons) at five large construction sites. The organization of work fosters social identification within a crew, resulting in distancing from and social categorization of site management. Social identification influences safety behaviour in the crews, where worksite safety rules may meet resistance. Future safety initiatives at large construction sites should take into account the dynamics of social identification and categorization in the implementation of safety measures, e.g. by creating an alternative organization of work, thus making it easier for a work crew to identify themselves with the site management. Site/crew managers should consider how safety can become a salient and valued group norm by altering the social structure at the sites and/or fostering dual social identity.

Suggested Citation

  • L.P. Andersen & I.L. Karlsen & P. Kines & T. Joensson & K.J. Nielsen, 2015. "Social identity in the construction industry: implications for safety perception and behaviour," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(8), pages 640-652, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:conmgt:v:33:y:2015:i:8:p:640-652
    DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2015.1087645
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/01446193.2015.1087645
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/01446193.2015.1087645?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chaohua Xiong & Kongzheng Liang & HanBin Luo & Ivan W. H. Fung, 2018. "Identification of Safety-Related Opinion Leaders among Construction Workers: Evidence from Scaffolders of Metro Construction in Wuhan, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-17, October.
    2. Lars Peter Andersen & Line Nørdam & Thomas Joensson & Pete Kines & Kent J. Nielsen, 2018. "Social identity, safety climate and self-reported accidents among construction workers," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 22-31, January.
    3. Mostafa Namian & Mohammadsoroush Tafazzoli & Ahmed Jalil Al-Bayati & Sharareh Kermanshachi, 2022. "Are Construction Managers from Mars and Workers from Venus? Exploring Differences in Construction Safety Perception of Two Key Field Stakeholders," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-23, May.
    4. Yuan Fu & Gui Ye & Xiaoyu Tang & Qinjun Liu, 2019. "Theoretical Framework for Informal Groups of Construction Workers: A Grounded Theory Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-28, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:conmgt:v:33:y:2015:i:8:p:640-652. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RCME20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.