The Influence of Safety Culture on Safety Performance in Saudi Arabian Construction Industry

334 Pages·2016·3.57 MB·English

The Influence of Safety Culture on Safety Performance in
Saudi Arabian Construction Industry

Nayef Saad

The University of Salford
The School of the Built Environment

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of Degree of PhD
July 2016
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... I
Acknowledgments..................................................................................................................... X
Declaration ............................................................................................................................... XI
Abstract .................................................................................................................................. XII
1. CHAPTER ONE- INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1
1.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Culture and the Safety Performance of an Organisation ............................................. 3
1.3 Research Problem ........................................................................................................ 8
1.4 Justification for the Research ...................................................................................... 9
1.5 Aim and Objectives ................................................................................................... 12
1.6 Research Questions ................................................................................................... 13
1.7 Scope of work............................................................................................................ 13
1.8 Overview on Research Methodology ........................................................................ 14
1.9 Contribution to Knowledge ....................................................................................... 15
1.10 Thesis Structure ......................................................................................................... 16
1.11 Summary & Way Forward ........................................................................................ 18
2. CHAPTER TWO- LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................. 19
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 19
2.2 Culture ....................................................................................................................... 20
2.2.1 Culture Model .................................................................................................... 21
2.2.2 Middle East Culture ........................................................................................... 24
2.3 Organisational Culture .............................................................................................. 28
2.3.1 Organisation Culture and Performance .............................................................. 31
2.4 Types of Organisational Culture ............................................................................... 34
2.5 Organisation Culture in Construction Industry ......................................................... 39
2.6 Organisational Culture in Saudi Arabian Construction industry .............................. 42
2.7 Safety as a Factor in Organisations ........................................................................... 45
2.7.1 Safety Culture Values ........................................................................................ 46
2.7.2 Value for Safety ................................................................................................. 47
2.8 Safety Culture in Construction Industry.................................................................... 48
2.8.1 Safety Culture in Construction Organisations ................................................... 53
2.8.2 Safety Culture in Saudi Construction Organisations ......................................... 54
I
2.9 Components of Safety Culture in Construction ........................................................ 55
2.9.1 Safety Culture and Leadership ........................................................................... 55
2.9.2 Safety Culture and Employee Behaviours ......................................................... 57
2.9.3 Safety Culture and Injury/Accident Rate ........................................................... 58
2.10 Safety Performance ................................................................................................... 59
2.11 Safety Performance in Construction Industry ........................................................... 61
2.11.1 Statistics on the Construction Safety ................................................................. 65
2.11.2 Safety Records in Saudi Arabian Construction Industry ................................... 69
2.12 Impact of Organisational Culture on Safety in the Construction Industry ................ 74
2.12.1 Safety Outcome Variables ................................................................................. 82
2.13 Safety Policies ........................................................................................................... 84
2.13.1 Safety Policies in Construction Industry............................................................ 85
2.13.2 Policies in Saudi Arabian Construction Industry ............................................... 90
2.14 Implementation Challenges in ensuring a culture of safety in the Saudi Arabian
construction industry ............................................................................................................ 94
2.15 Factors Affecting Implementation of Safety Policy .................................................. 96
2.15.1 Management Strategy and Commitment ........................................................... 97
2.15.2 Training, Adjustment and Technical Competence ............................................. 98
2.15.3 Commitment to Best practice and Safety Culture............................................ 100
2.15.4 Proficient and Timely Planning ....................................................................... 101
2.16 A Theoretical Framework on Safety Culture for this Research .............................. 104
2.16.1 Behavioural-Based Safety ................................................................................ 107
2.16.2 Supervisory and Managerial Behaviours ......................................................... 108
2.16. Summary ................................................................................................................... 109
3. CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................. 111
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 111
3.2 Methodological Frameworks................................................................................... 112
3.3 Research Philosophy ............................................................................................... 114
3.3.1 Positivism ......................................................................................................... 115
3.3.2 Realism ............................................................................................................ 116
3.3.3 Interpretivism ................................................................................................... 117
3.3.4 Pragmatism ...................................................................................................... 117
3.3.5 Adopted Interpretivism philosophy with justification ..................................... 118
3.4 Research Approaches .............................................................................................. 119
II
3.4.1 Inductive Approach .......................................................................................... 120
3.4.2 Deductive Approach ........................................................................................ 121
3.4.3 Qualitative Approach ....................................................................................... 123
3.4.4 Quantitative Approach ..................................................................................... 123
3.4.5 Justification for Using Deductive Reasoning on this research ........................ 123
3.5 Philosophy of Knowledge ....................................................................................... 124
3.5.1 Epistemology ................................................................................................... 125
3.5.2 Ontology .......................................................................................................... 126
3.5.3 Axiology .......................................................................................................... 127
3.5.4 Influence of knowledge Philosophy on the Research Process ......................... 128
3.6 Research Strategy .................................................................................................... 128
3.6.1. Action Research .................................................................................................... 129
3.6.2. Grounded Theory Research .................................................................................. 130
3.6.3. Ethnographic Research ......................................................................................... 132
3.6.4. Experimental Method ........................................................................................... 134
3.6.5. Survey Method ..................................................................................................... 134
3.6.6. Case Studies .......................................................................................................... 135
3.6.7. Justification or using multiple Research Strategies .............................................. 140
3.7 Methodological Choices .......................................................................................... 141
3.7.1 Quantitative Research ...................................................................................... 142
3.7.2 Qualitative Methodology ................................................................................. 143
3.7.3 Mixed Research Methodology ......................................................................... 144
3.7.4 Justification for using Mixed Methodology ..................................................... 144
3.8 Time Horizons ......................................................................................................... 145
3.8.1 Cross Sectional................................................................................................. 145
3.8.2 Longitudinal ..................................................................................................... 145
3.9 Research Technique (Methods) ............................................................................... 145
3.9.1 Interviews .............................................................................................................. 146
3.9.2 Questionnaire Survey ....................................................................................... 150
3.10 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 153
3.10.1 Qualitative Data Analysis ................................................................................ 154
3.10.2 Quantitative Data Analysis .............................................................................. 155
3.8.3. Mixed Methods Analysis ...................................................................................... 156
III
3.11 Reliability ................................................................................................................ 158
3.12 Internal Validity ...................................................................................................... 160
3.13 External Validity ..................................................................................................... 160
3.14 Ethical Considerations............................................................................................. 161
3.14.1 Considerations for Confidentiality ................................................................... 164
3.15 Chapter Summary .................................................................................................... 164
4. CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS ....................................................................................... 168
4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 168
4.2 Questionnaire Analysis based on research objectives ............................................. 169
4.2.1 Factors Affecting Implementation of Safety Culture within the Construction
Industry of Saudi Arabia ................................................................................................. 169
4.2.2 Extracted Factors Affecting the Implementation of Safety Culture ................ 172
4.2.3. Descriptive Statistics Factors Affecting the Implementation of Safety Culture .. 178
4.2.4 Distribution of Factors Affecting the Implementation of Safety Culture .............. 185
4.2.5. Inferential Statistics for Questionnaire Survey Results ........................................ 189
4.2.6. Relationship between the experience of the respondent and factors affecting safety
implementation: .............................................................................................................. 194
4.3 Interviews Analysis ................................................................................................. 197
4.3.1 Participants ............................................................................................................ 197
4.3.2. Themes on factors affecting implementation of safety polices ............................ 198
4.4 Case Study ............................................................................................................... 213
4.4.1. Participants ........................................................................................................... 213
4.4.2. Themes.................................................................................................................. 213
4.5 Summary ................................................................................................................. 222
5. CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION ............................................................................... 228
5.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 228
5.2. Overview of the problem............................................................................................. 229
5.3. Overview of the Findings ............................................................................................ 229
5.4. Research Question One ............................................................................................... 230
5.6. Research Question Three ............................................................................................ 233
5.7. Research Question Four .............................................................................................. 235
5.8. Research Question Five ............................................................................................... 236
5.9. Chapter Summary ........................................................................................................ 238
6. CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................... 240
IV
6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 240
6.2 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 240
6.3 Research objectives which were set out to be answered by this research ............... 247
6.3.1. Objective one: To investigate the type of organisational culture prevailing in the
construction industry in Saudi Arabia. ........................................................................... 247
6.3.2. Objective two: To explore the impact of the safety culture on safety performance.
........................................................................................................................................ 248
6.3.3. Objective three: To discuss the safety policies practiced in the construction
industry of Saudi Arabia ................................................................................................. 248
6.3.4. Objective four: To explore factors affecting the implementation of safety policies
in the construction industry of Saudi Arabia .................................................................. 249
6.3.5. Objective five: To develop a framework on safety culture leading to better
construction safety performance in Saudi Arabia. .......................................................... 250
6.4 Contribution to Knowledge ..................................................................................... 250
6.4.1 A developed Framework .................................................................................. 251
6.4.2 Outcome elements for the First Tier of the Safety Culture Development
Framework ...................................................................................................................... 252
6.5 Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research ........................................ 260
6.6 Recommendations for Practice................................................................................ 261
6.7 Recommendations to Theory .................................................................................. 264
6.8 Recommendations to Knowledge............................................................................ 265
6.9 Further Research ..................................................................................................... 265
References .......................................................................................................................... 266
Appendixes ............................................................................................................................ 307

V
List of Tables
Table 2-2-1 Health and Safety Authority in Europe (Source: Health and Safety Authority,
2014) ........................................................................................................................................ 63
Table 2-2 Summary of earlier studies of safety performance in Saudi Arabia (Source:
Alasamri, Chrisp and Bowles 2012, p. 3) ................................................................................ 71
Table 4-1: Sampling adequacy............................................................................................... 170
Table 4-2: The total variances explained by each of the components before and after rotation
along with the Eigenvalue for each. ....................................................................................... 171
Table 4-3: Rrotated component matrix for factor 1 with items’ loading ............................... 172
Table 4-4: Rotated component matrix for factor 2 showing items’ loading .......................... 174
Table 4-5: Rotated component matrix for factor 3 showing items’ loading .......................... 175
Table 4-6: Rotated component matrix for factor 4 showing items’ loading .......................... 175
Table 4-7: Rotated component matrix for factor 5 showing items’ loading .......................... 176
Table 4-8: Rotated component matrix for factor 6 showing items’ loading .......................... 176
Table 4-9: Results of Cronbach’s alpha reliability test for each factor ................................. 178
Table 4-10: Descriptive statistics for factor 1 ........................................................................ 179
Table 4-11: descriptive statistics for factor 2 ......................................................................... 182
Table 4-12: descriptive statistics for factor 3 ......................................................................... 183
Table 4-13: Descriptive statistics for factor 4 ........................................................................ 183
Table 4-14: Descriptive statistics for factor 5 ........................................................................ 184
Table 4-15: Descriptive statistics for factor 6 ........................................................................ 185
Table 4-16: Descriptive statistics of the 6 factors .................................................................. 186
Table 4-17: An ANOVA table showing the effect of education on the 6 factors .................. 191
Table 4-18: ANOVA test results for the effect of job type of the six factors ........................ 193
Table 4-19: Pearson’s correlation coefficient and significance levels between experience and
factors ..................................................................................................................................... 195

VI
List of Figures
Figure 1-1: A summary of the key steps taken for the research process (Adapted: Saunders et
al., 2009) .................................................................................................................................. 15
Figure 2-1: An abstraction of the Hofstede’s view of Culture and its dimensions (Source: Holt
and Wigginton, 2002) .............................................................................................................. 22
Figure 2-2: Contextualisation of organisational culture for companies working in the
construction industry (Idea from adapted from: Motawa et al., 2007, Morton and Ross, 2008;
Lazarus and Clifton, 2001). ..................................................................................................... 29
Figure 2-3: An abstraction of the meaning of organisational culture to typical construction
organisations (Source: Morton and Ross, 2008) ...................................................................... 38
Figure 2-4: Shared Responsibility (Source: Circle of Impact, 2010) ...................................... 41
Figure 2-5: Competing Values Frameworks (Source: Kaarst-Brown et.al, 2004). ................. 43
Figure 2-6: Fatalities per Annum for 2012 (Source: Health and Safety Executive, 2012) ...... 68
Figure 2-7: Different Levels of Safety Culture in Construction Organisations (Source:
Bergersen 2003, p. 14). ............................................................................................................ 75
Figure 2-8: A theoretical framework for this Research ......................................................... 106
Figure 3-1: Research Framework based on the onion concept (Saunders et al, 2009) .......... 113
Figure 3-2: Research Onion (Saunders et al., 2012, pp. 143–9) ............................................ 114
Figure 3-3: Example of how inductive reasoning is applied to a research process (Source: Gill
and Johnson, 2010) ................................................................................................................ 121
Figure 3-5: Example of how deductive reasoning is applied to a research process (Source:
Gill and Johnson, 2010) ......................................................................................................... 122
Figure 3-3: Knowledge philosophical trinity and alignment (Adapted: Durrant-Law, 2005,
p16) ........................................................................................................................................ 125
Figure 3-6. A summary of the key steps taken for the research process (Adapted: Saunders et
al., 2009) ................................................................................................................................ 165
Figure 6-1: Developed framework for this study ................................................................... 259

VII
List of Abbreviations
KSA Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
OSHA Occupational Safety & Health Administration
OHSAS Occupational Health & Safety Assessment Specification
HSE Health & Safety Environment
ISO International Standard Organisation
H&S Health & Safety
OHSE Occupational Health & Safety Environment
CAPA Corrective & Preventive Action
GOSI General Organisation for Social Insurance
UK United Kingdome
US United States
SAQ Safety Attitude Questionnaire
GEL General Environment Law
EPS Environment Protection Standard
PPE Personal Protection Equipment
ILO International Labour Organisation
EHS Employee Health Scheme
NIOSH National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health
VIII
USA United States of America
NEBOSH National Examination Board in Occupational Safety & Health
IOSH Institution of Occupational Safety & Health
IIRSM International Institute of Risk & Safety Management
SIA Safety Institute of Australia
APOSH Asia Pacific Occupational Safety & Health
NSC National Safety Council
PAR Participatory Action Research
SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
KMO Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure
ANOVA Analysis Of Variance
FAD Foundation Associated Degree
BSc Bachelor of Science
MSc Master of Science

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