Development of predicting model for safety behaviour based on safety psychology and working environment

The increasing trend of occupational accident due to unsafe act and unsafe condition especially in construction site suggests the need for more proactive safety assessment model. Therefore this research aimed to establish a prediction model of safety behaviour based on safety psychology and working environment factors in construction site. Theory of Planned Behaviour (TpB) was adapted to examine on the prediction model of safety behaviour among construction workers using safety psychology representing unsafe act and working environment factors representing unsafe condition. A modified perception questionnaire named Safety Psychometric Model (SPM) was proposed based on TpB questionnaire and safety attitude questionnaire (SQA). Previously, the approach has successfully applied in health care and manufacturing sector. The questionnaire has been validated by three industrial and academic experts. A total of 554 respondents among 92 construction site were selected as the subjects for analysis. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) was use for analysis purpose which involve correlation, regression and structural equation analysis. The results demonstrated that safety psychology and work environment factor was related positively with safety behaviour intention. The elements of workers’ attitude, subjective norm and perceived control that form the safety psychology context found to be significantly has the ability to predict safety behaviour. The demographics variances of personal and education background, working experiences and training background also determine as the factors of safety behaviour of the construction workers. The research also successfully established a safety behaviour prediction model that named Safety Psychometric Model. The model can be benefited by safety practitioners, organizations and researchers to explore the safety behaviour prediction. It also enhanced the knowledge in the area of employee behaviour prediction and modelling.