Affiliations: [a]
Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| [b]
Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Health, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
| [c]
Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Student Research Committee, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| [d]
Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| [e]
Department of Construction Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Yahya Khosravi, Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Health, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran. E-mails: yakhosravi@abzums.ac.ir and yakhosravi@yahoo.com.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Unsafe behavior is an important component in the chain of accident occurrences, and thus plays a key role in the accident prevention programs in construction sites. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this qualitative research is to study the perception of frontline workers, supervisors, and managers about the preconditions of and contributing factors to unsafe behaviors in civil engineering projects. METHODS:Field observation, in-depth interview, and focus group discussion are conducted with 113 informants from various mega projects during a 2-year time period. Fishbone diagram is applied to describe a conceptual model. RESULTS:The results point to fourteen themes within four categories of the conceptual model – general management, organizational factors, safety supervision and management, and individual characteristics. CONCLUSIONS:General management and organizational culture were introduced as important preconditions and contributing factors resulting in human error and unsafe behavior in the construction sites. The fishbone diagram reveals the sequence and interaction of preconditions and contributing factors. The key contributing factors and their influences on unsafe behaviors are discussed along with recommendations for future directions.
