Construction actor safety behaviour: antecedents, current thinking and directions.

Procedures, regulations, and safety management systems (SMS) have reduced the incidence of occupational accidents, but they still occur. Current methods have enjoyed some success however these methods mostly address aspects of safety that are not behaviour-related. Researchers have argued that construction actors’ behaviours account for most accidents and so understanding and being able to modify behaviour should be crucial to improving the occupational safety and health (OSH) performance of the industry. In reference to behaviour, antecedents precede behaviours whilst consequences succeed behaviours and researchers argue that both direct construction actors’ behaviour. It is therefore important to study and use them strategically to increase and decrease the frequency of safe and unsafe behaviours respectively. Some antecedents (e.g. training and ergonomics) and some consequences (e.g. saving time and convenience) of construction actors’ safety behaviours are discussed. Further, modification techniques (e.g. classical and operant conditioning) that can improve these behaviours are also examined. Researchers have also argued that safety culture and safety climate influence construction actor’s safety behaviours and the relationship between the two are discussed as well. According to the theory of planned behaviour and the theory of reasoned action, there seems to a misalignment between perceived and actual behaviours; this paves way for further research. This paper summarises the findings of a literature review on behavioural safety and discusses several techniques to modify behaviours and potential areas for further research.