Citation

Man SS, Yu R, Zhang T, Chan AHS. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022; 19(3).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph19031243

PMID

35162266

Abstract

Risk taking among construction workers is a critical topic in construction safety research. The aim of this study was to empirically investigate how optimism bias and safety climate influence construction worker risk-taking behavior. A survey with a designed questionnaire was conducted to collect data from construction workers. A total of 183 construction workers participated in this study and completed the designed questionnaire. The collected data were subjected to statistical analysis by using structural equation modeling.

RESULTS show that optimism bias related to work risks positively influences construction worker risk-taking behavior, whereas safety climate and optimism bias related to hazard perception skills negatively affect the risk-taking behavior. These findings can enrich the literature on construction worker risk-taking behavior from the perspective of optimism bias and safety climate. Practical implications are provided for discouraging construction workers from taking risks at work.

Language: en

Keywords

safety climate; construction workers; construction safety; optimism bias; risk-taking behavior