Group-level Safety Climate in the Construction Industry: The Influence of Organizational, Group, and Individual Factors

Group-level safety climate (GSC) is a recognized leading indicator of safety performance in the literature. However, there is limited understanding of the mechanisms through which multi-level (i.e. organizational, group, and individual) factors collectively influence GSC as promoted by general contractors in construction. A model is proposed to examine the interactions and causal relationships between four multi-level factors including organizational-level safety climate (OSC), co-worker support (CS), supervisory safety-specific transformational leadership (SSTL), individual psychological capital (PsyCap) and GSC. A two-wave online survey was conducted within a large contractor company in the United States over two years. A total of 280 employees completed both surveys. The analysis technique of structural equation modeling was adopted to test hypotheses. The results show that OSC, CS, supervisory SSTL significantly contribute to GSC. In addition, supervisory SSTL and CS positively affect individual PsyCap, while PsyCap positively moderates the relationship between supervisory SSTL and GSC. The study suggests that construction contractors should consider implementing leadership and PsyCap interventions to cultivate a positive GSC that potentially leads to improved safety performance.