Analysing the underlying factors affecting safety performance in building construction

The Malaysian construction industry is stigma-laden 'dangerous, dirty and difficult' (3 D) with a high number of blue-collar foreign workers. Poor safety performance is undermining the public perception. The purpose of this study is to examine the current level of safety awareness in construction, to determine the significant factors affecting safety performance and to evaluate the potential measures for improving the construction workers' safety awareness. A total of 27 reasons were first identified through a comprehensive literature review. A questionnaire survey then employed to evaluate the perceptions of construction personnel on the factors that affect safety performance and potential measures to improve safety awareness, in which the understanding on the hierarchy of controls is still lacking. The primary safety issues are: personal protective equipment (PPE), working environment, working attitude, communication and maintenance of equipment. Then, an exploratory factor analysis revealed eight underlying factors. The most effective preventive measure are: install fall protection system, effective communication and regular safety inspection. Finally, the relationships between the factors and preventive measures were identified using correlation tests. This paper provides more profound insights into the underlying factors affecting safety performance in construction and recommends feasible measures to raise safety awareness among the construction personnel.