Organizational factors affecting the safety and safety culture at a medium sized construction site; a case study at a Skanska construction site

Abstract

The construction industry is regarded as one of the most dangerous sectors in Sweden, with a significant number of work-related injuries reported each year. To create a safer industry, the organisations within the construction industry hold great responsibility in creating a better workplace for their employees. To understand what affects the safety on construction sites this report studies a midsized Skanska project in Sweden. Through interviews with actors active in the project organisation from Skanska and subcontractors, understanding of what creates a safe construction site and a strong safety culture is gathered. Different organisational and site-specific initiatives as well as general site visit observations are carried out to get an understanding of how things on site actually works. The result indicates there is a deviation through the organisation where a lack of understanding from either end means some measures are disqualified from the beginning. However, many things work as intended and the general opinion gathered from the interviews and observations is that the site is working actively with safety which is paying off. As the complexity of the project increases with more people on site, the on-site management face challenges in maintaining the same safety standard. Making others adapt to their safety culture and policies rather than following their own was found to be challenging, requiring more on-site presence over time. It was found that organisations have a role in making the decision to do the right thing easy. Through inclusion and education, organisations can create policies which the actors in the organisation understand and accept, creating a shared risk perception and a common goal. However, some issues were found more challenging than others as personal risk perception combined with an industry reluctant to change makes issues such as personal safety equipment difficult to solve