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UK construction site safety: discourses of enforcement and engagement

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  • Fred Sherratt
  • Peter Farrell
  • Rod Noble

Abstract

Developments in safety management on large UK construction sites have seen a paradigm shift from enforcement-based systems to safety-culture programmes, which seek to engage with the workforce to create fully cooperative and safety-conscious sites. Founded in social constructionism, recent research sought out the master discourses of safety on large UK construction sites through the examination of safety signage, talk around safety and safety documentation. Two of the most prominent discourses of safety on sites were found to be safety as enforcement and safety as engagement, reflecting the change in safety management strategies. These discourses were found to be interrelated in their constructions of safety, yet also varied in their associations with practice, responsibility, social interactions and the management hierarchy of the sites. These findings develop the current understanding of safety found on sites, with relation to the hierarchical structures of safety management and the discourses of enforcement and engagement in practice. The findings have significance for the safety practices of large UK contractors in developing and improving their safety-culture programmes, as well as suggesting potential new directions in the academic research of safety in construction.

Suggested Citation

  • Fred Sherratt & Peter Farrell & Rod Noble, 2013. "UK construction site safety: discourses of enforcement and engagement," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(6), pages 623-635, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:conmgt:v:31:y:2013:i:6:p:623-635
    DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2012.747689
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    Cited by:

    1. Mara Lombardi & Mario Fargnoli & Giuseppe Parise, 2019. "Risk Profiling from the European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW) Accidents′ Databases: A Case Study in Construction Sites," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-22, November.
    2. Lars Peter Andersen & Line Nørdam & Thomas Joensson & Pete Kines & Kent J. Nielsen, 2018. "Social identity, safety climate and self-reported accidents among construction workers," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 22-31, January.
    3. Saikat Maiti & Nuno Marques De Almeida, 2023. "An evidence-based health and safety analysis in megaproject management," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 40(1), pages 556-577, February.
    4. Natalie Galea & Abigail Powell & Fanny Salignac & Louise Chappell & Martin Loosemore, 2022. "When Following the Rules Is Bad for Wellbeing: The Effects of Gendered Rules in the Australian Construction Industry," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(1), pages 119-138, February.
    5. Rameez Rameezdeen & Abbas Elmualim, 2017. "The Impact of Heat Waves on Occurrence and Severity of Construction Accidents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, January.

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