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Superintendants talk with researcher Krista Hoffmeister about strategies for implementing leadership training that could significantly impact safety culture on construction sites. |
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Peter Chen, PhD
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO
Ph: 970-491-4135
Email: chenp@lamar.colostate.edu
Year One:
Although it may be intuitive that leaders can have a significant impact in creating a culture of safety on construction sites, this team set out to empirically identify and validate the skill set necessary
for individuals to be successful in this role. The researchers did it by conducting eight focus groups among people who should know – safety directors, union foremen, apprentices, construction superintendents, and training instructors in three locations: Denver, San Francisco and Chicago.
The outcome of these focus groups yielded a list of
193 skills that contribute to being a good leader. By combining similar statements and eliminating duplicate responses, the team condensed this list to 69 vital skills. The next step was to use those results to develop surveys that would zero in which skills to focus on while designing a safety leadership pilot program. The targets of this pilot program are apprentices in their last two years of training and construction management students in their junior and senior years of college. By Dec. 1, 2010, validation surveys had gone out to a total of 1,787 journeymen and 1,090 apprentices in three regions—Denver, Portland and Chicago.
One additional bonus of the focus groups was
that the participants suggested strategies and tips for crafting the pilot program. As a result, reachers have decided to design an interactive leadership
training program that centers on the long-term sustainability of behavioral change. The team is eager to hear from potential partners who would like to collaborate on the project in Year Two. Researchers and contractors can reach them through this website: http://csuohp.org.
Thus far, results from Year One indicate that the full-range leadership model, which encompasses transformational, transactional and non-leadership, is a good fit for the construction industry and
a good predictor of safety climate and other safety outcomes.
The Role of Ergonomic Climate
In May of 2010, the team received approval for a supplemental project to investigate the role of ergonomic climate, which is related but distinct from safety climate, in the construction industry. In Year One, the researchers’ goal was to investigate the construct and then develop a survey to measure it. Focus groups with experts revealed that ergonomic climate is an important factor to consider in workplace health and safety. Furthermore, the experts suggested that ergonomic climate is multifaceted and that when employees form opinions and ideas about the way management values ergonomics in the workplace, they take many things in their environment into consideration, such as leaders’ behaviors and the policies and practices of the organization. A review of the literature on climate and ergonomics substantiated these suggestions; responses from the focus groups along with relevant literature will serve as the basis for developing an assessment tool for measuring ergonomic climate in organizations and decreasing accidents and injuries.
Research Team & Partners: John Rosecrance, PhD, Krista Hoffmeister, BA, BS, Colorado State University; United Association of Plumbers, Fitters, Welders, and HVAC Service Techs;
Mechanical Contractors Association of America; Plumbers Local 3, Pipefitters Local 208,
Steamfitters and Pipefitters Local 290, Local 597 Pipefitters; Reconstruction Experts, Inc.; Intel Ronler Acres.
Abstract:
The importance of safety culture for occupational safety and health in construction has underscored the need for a better understanding of the key factors that contribute to strong safety cultures in order to improve the effectiveness of safety and health management programs, as reflected in the NORA2 Goals 8.0 and 9.0. Furthermore there is a pressing need to address the increase of safety and health risks faced by numerous hard-to-reach small to medium size businesses, and to understand the organizational factors that affect safety systems (NORA2 Goal 10.0). Among various organizational factors, safety leadership has been recognized as a key vehicle for creating and strengthening positive safety cultures, as recommended by OSHA’s Safety and Health Management Systems (2009), Health and Safety Executive (2005), and safety management experts. Hofmann and Morgeson’s review (2004) highlights the tremendous impact and high return of investment that safety leadership can have on safety and health cultures. However, scholars note the pressing need for more research examining how leaders create safety cultures through their actions. Such research will address NORA2 Goal 11.0, which calls for more attention to focus on how best to change workers’ and contractors’ safety practices by changing their attitudes and values about safety. Considering that a positive safety culture can be established and strengthened by supervisors’ actions (Zohar & Luria, 2005), it is essential that supervisors possess effective safety leadership skills to successfully manage, shape, and motivate workers’ efforts in achieving the collective goal of improving safety and decreasing injuries and illnesses. The significance and innovative features of the proposed study are demonstrated by focusing on safety leadership and safety culture as intervention targets, and vehicles for improving the effectiveness of safety and health management programs in construction industry. Specifically, the proposed study will identify and validate the effective leadership skills considered critical to safety in the construction industry. In addition, it will develop and evaluate the proposed safety leadership program. Finally, it will identify and develop strategies to circumvent R2P barriers in regards to implementation and dissemination of the program.
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