Enhancing Deep Safety Compliance of Construction Workers in Australia

Construction workers need to comply with safety rules and procedures to maintain on-site safety. Some workers intend to merely demonstrate their safety compliance to safety managers with minimal effort and lack the intention to ensure safety. Safety compliance has been distinguished between deep safety compliance (DSC) and surface safety compliance (SSC) in recent studies. This study aims to explore ways to enhance DSC, with consideration of the effects of management commitment to safety (MCS), safety communication and safety knowledge. The data were collected from 239 construction workers in Australia. The results indicated that safety communication and safety knowledge positively contributed to DSC. Safety communication decreased SSC. In addition, safety knowledge and safety communication mediated the effect of MCS on DSC. Safety knowledge also mediated the effect of safety communication on DSC. Improving DSC requires safety managers to demonstrate their commitment to safety and communicate it effectively. When workers trust this commitment, they retain safety knowledge and are more likely to comply with safety rules and procedures.