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Barriers to Good Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) Practices by Small

Construction Firms

Article · March 2015

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 Barriers to Good Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) Practices by Small Construction Firms

Jocelyn Ying Ying Wong, Jason Gray and Zabihullah Sadiqi

School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
Q4001, Queensland, Australia.

Abstract

The construction industry has long been considered to have unacceptably high injury and fatality rates.
Previous research has shown that small construction companies sustain higher injury rates than large
companies. However, despite the industry being dominated by a very large number of such small
companies, little is known of their occupational health and safety (OHS) needs, practices and constraints.
This paper takes a first step in aiming to identify the principal barriers that affect good OHS performance
of small construction companies so that effective OHS practices can be developed to improve this in
future. The contents of the literature are first summarised, in which three critical barriers to good OHS
practice by small construction firms are proposed as those of cost, time and lack of safety awareness and
concern. The results of a questionnaire survey of South East Queensland construction personnel are then
presented, which largely confirm what is suggested by the literature research and also succeeds in
providing an indication of their ranking in terms of importance and suggestions for overcoming these
barriers. The research results provide a better understanding of the issues which restrict good OHS
practice in small construction companies and potential measures for improvement.

Keywords: Health and safety; good practice; barriers; small construction firms; South East Queensland.

1 Introduction

The construction industry has long been considered to have unacceptably high injury and fatality rates
(Cheng et al., 2012; Choudhry and Fang, 2008). The highly fragmented and high-risk operational nature
of the Australian building and construction industry contributes to the deaths of approximately 50
construction workers each year (CRC Construction Innovation, 2007). Construction workers
susceptibility to fatality is three times the national workplace average and with injury rates 50% higher
than those experienced in other sectors (Charles et al., 2007).

The alarming injury and fatality rates of the construction industry are closely related to the hazards and
risks faced during construction work, such as working at height, working around mobile plant and live
traffic, and working with underground and above ground services (Hoonakker et al., 2005; Gittleman et

1
al., 2010; Biggs et al., 2013). In response to these risks and subsequent injuries and fatal accidents, the
construction industry has been striving for improvement in safety performance (CRC Construction
Innovation, 2007; Hon et al., 2012). In Hong Kong, for example, a variety of initiatives in the form of
legislation, law enforcement, safety promotion, and training, have been implemented to promote safety
and health in the workplace (Choudhry et al., 2009).

However, issues of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) are often ignored in small and medium sized
enterprises (SMEs), which are engaged as subcontractors in the construction industry (Marshall, 2002;
Lingard, & Holmes, 2001; Kelloway & Cooper, 2011). Evidence has also shown that it is common for
subcontractors to have a high incidence of serious injuries and fatalities (Mayhew et al., 1997). In
Australia, a shift in OHS policy towards a more self-regulated system has posed significant challenges for
small sized subcontractors (Loosemore & Andonakis, 2007). They may not manage OHS risks as
effectively as larger firms (Holmes et al., 1999). This causes higher risks of suffering OHS accidents in
SMEs than in larger enterprises (Arocena & Núñez, 2010; Kheni et al., 2010).

Therefore, it is essential to identify the critical issues that affect the OHS performance of small
construction companies so that OHS practice can be improved. This research identifies factors related to
the barriers to good OHS practice by small construction companies in South East Queensland. Through
extensive literature review, the major issues likely to be related to the barriers to good OHS practice by
small construction companies are proposed. The results of a questionnaire survey of South East
Queensland construction personnel are then presented, which largely confirm what is suggested by the
literature research and also succeeds in providing an indication of their ranking in terms of importance
and suggestions for overcoming these barriers. The research results provide a better understanding of the
issues which restrict good OHS practice in small construction companies and potential measures for
improvement.

2 Literature review
Occupational health and safety (OHS) refers to the complete physical, mental and social well-being
within a workplace (Safe at Work, n.d.). The highly-transient and dynamic nature of the construction
industry poses challenges the effective management of OHS risk (Lingard, & Holmes, 2001). Existing
research has shown that the high rate of injury in the construction industry is primarily due to inadequate
or non-existent OHS systems (Lin & Mills, 2001).

The issue most affecting good OHS practice is cost. Purchasing personal protective equipment (PPE) and
employing safety staff incur additional project costs (Kelloway & Cooper, 2011). The financial fragility
and instability of small businesses can impede the extent to which the good OHS practices can be adopted

2
(Pinto et al., 2011). Because of the size of SMEs, the resources and facilities to enable safe construction
are not readily available (Choi et al., 2012; Kelloway & Cooper, 2011). In addition, the emphasis of small
businesses on safety is proportional to the size of the company or the scale of the project (Kartam et al.,
2000). Business survival is the top priority for these companies, while safety and health issues often have
lower priorities because of limited resources (Hon et al., 2012). The financial benefits of OHS investment
is not obvious in the short term, making it less attractive for small construction businesses (Champoux &
Brun, 2003). Furthermore, the practices of competitive tendering and award of most public sector
contracts to the lowest bidder in many countries compel the contractors to drive their prices low, while
cutting costs, which, in turn, affects health and safety considerations (Choi et al., 2012; Kartam et al.,
2000). Price cutting pressures are usually passed down to subcontractors (Smith-Jackson et al., 2011),
causing many recurring quality and safety problems (Chiang, 2009; Lingard & Rowlinson, 1997).

Tight project deadlines provide another barrier to effective OHS management. The industry strives to
complete projects on time and neglects safety (Lazarevic and Perry, 2004; Silva & Wimalaratne, 2012).
The problem of time pressures for safety is worsened due to poor design details, planning inadequacies or
misjudgements, the suspension of work due to inclement weather, and errors in delivery dates and times
(Conchie et al., 2013; Dawson et al., 1988; Zhou et al., 2011). Subcontracting is typically a payment-by-
results system where payment is based on the amount of work completed rather than the period of time
spent on the worksite. Thus returns are enhanced by the completion of tasks in the shortest possible time,
leading to subcontractors pushing themselves hard, working excessive hours, or cutting comers in regard
to safety (Mayhew et al., 1997; William & Geller, 2000). Long working hours increase fatigue, result in
poor concentration and decision making, and thus exacerbating the risk of injury (Haslam et al., 2005).

Due to the cost and time pressure of projects, there is a lack of OHS training and education, which
significantly increases occupational risk (Kelloway & Cooper, 2011). A training program helps the
personnel to carry out various preventative activities and establish a positive attitude towards safety
(Seppala, 1995). Training and induction procedures are often poorly structured in those organisations that
experience poor safety performance (National Occupational Health & Safety Commission, 1999).

Lack of safety awareness and concern is also a problem affecting OHS performance. There is a positive
relationship between the intensity level of safety management commitment and overall safety
performance (Fang et al., 2004; Glendon & Litherland, 2001; Tam & Fung, 1998). However, the highly
transient nature of the subcontracting workforce complicates the nature of employment relationships and
causes ambiguity in the responsibility for maintaining OHS (Loughborough University of Technology &
UMIST, 2003). Small businesses do not feel the need to focus on OHS in their management systems.
Instead, they often believe that risk control is the responsibility of employees (Lin & Mills, 2001). The

3
ambiguity of OHS commitment may also lead to errors in decision-making, breakdowns in
communication, or inconsistent decisions and practices, which consequently results in increasing health
and safety issues on construction sites (Mayhew et al., 1997). The high mobility of subcontracted labour
reduces the familiarity of workers with the site working environment and the associated potential hazards.
It creates difficulties for them to follow the client’s stipulated safety management program (McDonald et
al., 2009) and to recognize and avoid risks at the workplace (Biggs et al., 2005).

Wrong perceptions or underestimation of risks often places individuals in unsafe environments. Some of
the workers are overconfident about their past work experiences or safety record, contributing to the
belief that they do not need safety training (Hung et al., 2013). These misperceptions and reluctance to
take advice reduces the efficiency of safety training (ECOTEC, 2005). Some business owners tend to
underestimate and even trivialise risk (Campoux and Brun, 2003). They believe risk is an inherent part of
the work activity and that their employees are not in any significant danger because problems hardly ever
occur (Campoux and Brun, 2003; Pinqing et al., 2006). Therefore, to achieve an excellent safety
performance, emphasis should be made on the risk perceptions of both employers and employees as this
affects risk behaviour and the probability of accidents and health injuries (Rundmo, 2000; Mohamed et
al., 2009; Caponecchia & Sheils, 2011).

The onerousness and variability of legislative enforcement within the individual disparate OHS
jurisdictions can hinder the effectiveness of OHS practice (Charles et al., 2007). In Australia, for
example, there are nine separate jurisdictions, creating uncertainty in terms of compliance (Biggs et al.,
2005). The difficulties are further heightened by a lack of national uniformity in construction-related OHS
regulations, in addition to the different regulatory influences of Federal and State governments which
cause confusion and controversy for different industry groups (CRC Construction Innovation, 2007).

Existing research on OHS in the construction industry mainly focuses on large firms. Only a limited
number of studies have been made of small businesses and their OHS practices. Most literature discusses
the importance and practical ways for effective OHS management, but the means of adopting these
procedures and solutions in the context of small construction companies remains a practical problem. The
different backgrounds of various countries and regions can impact on OHS enforcement, therefore they
also need to be taken into account when relevant OHS issues are investigated. This research explores the
OHS problems of small construction firms in South East Queensland of Australia. The factors that hinder
good OHS practice by small construction businesses are determined to enable the development of
strategic solutions for improvement of the current OHS situation.

4
3 Proposal

Based on the literature review, three main variables and eight sub-variables were identified as barriers to
good OHS practice by small construction firms in South East Queensland as follows:

a) Cost barriers

i. lack of expertise or resources

ii. lack of financial benefit in OHS investment
iii. lack of bargaining power

b) Time barriers

i. long training and education time

ii. tight project deadlines

c) Lack of safety awareness and concern

i. The fragmented nature of constructed industry

ii. Wrong perception or underestimation of risk
iii. Onerousness and variability of legislation

These variables were further examined and validated in this study. According to the “vicious circle”
concept of Stehbens et al. (1999), inter-relationships exist between the sub-variables. This leads to
complex and interdependent relationships among the variables, as shown in Figure 1. This forms the
research proposal which is examined in this study.

Lack of Safety Awareness and Concern

-Fragmented nature of construction industry
-Onerousness and variability of legislation

Barriers to Good OHS Practice

in Small Construction Firms

Cost Barriers Time Barriers

-Lack of expertise or resources -Long training and education time
-Lack of financial benefit in OHS -Tight project deadline
-Lack of bargaining power

Figure 1: Proposed interrelationships between variables

5
4 Research method

A structured questionnaire survey was carried out of small construction companies, especially
construction-related subcontractor companies, in South East Queensland. This was used to elicit
information concerning their opinions on the variables identified from the literature review, in order to
confirm the barriers to good OHS practice and their interrelationships. The targeted respondents were
managers and relevant professional employees of the small construction firms, such as quantity surveyors,
architects, engineers and project managers.

The questionnaire comprises four sections. The first section requests the respondent’s details and
background information. The second section collects information concerning the company of the
respondent such as the type of projects involved, company size, implementation and performance of OHS
practices. The third section forms the main body of the instrument. This section aims to obtain the
opinions of respondents on the various barriers to good OHS practice. Respondents are required to
indicate the degree of agreement towards each barrier variable on a scale of: Strongly Disagree-1;
Disagree-2; Neutral-3; Agree-4; Strongly Agree-5. The final part of the survey includes open ended
question that gathered respondent’s opinions on other types of barriers to good OHS practice as well as
their suggestions for overcoming these barriers.

Before the questionnaire survey was distributed, a pilot study was conducted with three professional
experts with more than 10 years of experience in the construction industry. Amendments were made to
the questionnaire according to the feedback and suggestions received. The final questionnaire was
distributed to 250 small construction firms across South East Queensland. A total of 52 responses were
received, representing a response rate of 20.8%.

Any mean, median or mode score over 3.0 is considered as an agreement of some magnitude. The
analysis results are discussed in the following section.

5 Analysis of results

5.1 Respondents’ profile

Of the respondents, 42.3% are on-site workers. The remaining respondents comprise 5 project managers
or foremen, 2 developers, 3 architects, 6 engineers, 8 quantity surveyors or estimators and 3 contract
administrators. 75% of the respondents have more than 5 years’ experience working in the construction
industry.

The majority of the respondents are based in subcontractor organisations. 63% of the respondents’
companies are involved in building projects, the remainder specialising in infrastructure work and other

6
related construction projects. 83% of these companies have 5 to 15 employees, with the remaining
companies employing 16 and above employees. Australian FairWork government defines a small
business as business with fewer than 15 employees and therefore, the majority of companies involved in
the survey meet this criterion.

Most respondents (87%) have a neutral stand on the OHS management in their companies. Of the
remainder, only 9.6% of the respondents rate their OHS practices as as good while the other 3.8% rate
them as poor.

5.2 Analysis of barriers

Cost barriers

Table 1 summarises the results regarding cost barriers. None of the respondents disagree with the
statements made, with 60% of the respondents choosing 4 (agree) as the most frequent response for all the
statements and the remaining 40% choosing “neutral” as the most frequent response.

Of the five statements, Statements 8 and 9 concerning resources produced the highest mean of 3.68,
indicating that the majority of the respondents agree that small construction companies have insufficient
resources and finance for completely safe construction practices. Statement 11, that subcontractors face a
lack of bargaining power over their main contractors, with the mean of 3.56, is the second highest cost
barrier. Statements 10 and 12, on the other hand, indicate that competitive forces are perceived to have a
rather less obvious effect on safety practices.

Table 1: Responses and statistical analysis in regards to the cost barriers

Statement
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly

Strongly
Neutral

Agree

agree

Standard
deviation
Median
Mean

Mode

1 2 3 4 5
In small construction firms, the resources to
0 4 11 35 2 3.68 4 4 0.68
enable safe construction are not readily available.
Due to financial pressure, small construction
0 5 9 36 2 3.68 4 4 0.71
firms are less likely to invest in health and safety
Powerful competitive forces in the construction
0 4 34 12 2 3.23 3 3 0.65
industry often work against OHS.
Subcontractors face a lack of bargaining power
0 4 21 21 6 3.56 4 4 0.80
over their main contractors.
Projects that are competitively bid face higher
2 16 19 17 0 2.95 3 3 1.07
frequencies of construction accidents.

7
As Figure 2 shows, 67.3% (35) respondents rank “lack of short term financial benefit in OHS investment”
as the most significant cost barrier to good OHS practice in small construction companies. This is
followed by “lack of expertise or resources” which has 11 votes and the least significant barrier is “the
lack of bargaining power of the subcontractors” with only 4 votes out of the 52. The results confirm that
the main cost barriers to good OHS practice by small construction firms to be the lack of short term
financial benefit that can be gained from investment in good OHS practices.

40
35
30
25
20 Ranking no.1
15
Ranking no.2
10
5 Ranking no.3
0
Lack of expertise or Lack of short term Lack of bargaining
resources financial benefit in power of the
OHS investment subcontractors

Figure 2: Ranking of cost barriers to OHS

Time barriers

Overall, the majority of the respondents express similar agreement on all the statements regarding time
barriers, with 4 (agree) being the most frequent response to all the four statements involved (Table 2). Of
these, Statement 14 has the highest result with a mean of 4.20, indicating that the majority of respondents
agree with the literature in that the lack of training and education increases injury rates. As indicated by
the responses to Statement 15 (3.98), most employers prefer short-term training over long-term training in
order to save time. The next barrier is Statement 17 (3.77), which is that projects with tight deadlines
impose problems in adopting full safety construction practice, followed finally by Statement 1 (3.73)
concerning language barriers of illiterate workers.

8
Table 2: Responses and statistical analysis in regards to the time barriers

Statement

Disagree
Disagree
Strongly

Strongly
Neutral

Agree

agree

Standard
deviation
Median
Mean

Mode
1 2 3 4 5

14. Lack of training and education will increase 0 0 2 38 12 4.20 4 4 0.49

the injury rates.
15. Most of the employers prefer short-term 0 0 5 43 4 3.98 4 4 0.42
training than long-term training.
16. Language barriers of the illiterate workers 0 3 12 33 4 3.73 4 4 0.69
affect the efficiency of training.
17. Tight project deadline causes difficulties in 0 6 5 36 5 3.77 4 4 0.79
adopting full safety practice.

As shown in Figure 3, there is a balanced ratio of 50:50 votes between the two sub-variables of “tight
project deadlines” and “long training and education time” in contributing to the time barriers, implies that
both have similar influence on effects of time on good OHS practice.

Tight project deadline

Ranking no.1
Ranking no.2
Long training and education
time

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Figure 3: Ranking of time barriers of OHS

Lack of safety awareness and concern

Overall, the majority of respondents generally agree on all the statements regarding lack of safety
awareness and concern, with 80% of the most frequent responses being 4 (agree), with the remainder
being 3 (neutral) (Table 3).

9
Statement 19 (mean 4.00) is the most supported, with respondents concurring with the literature that the
risk perception and safety management commitment is crucial to effective safety performance. This is
followed by Statement 21 (3.58), indicating that the high mobility of subcontractors reduces the
familiarity of workers with the site environment and increases the risk of injury, and Statement 20 (3.52),
agreeing that subcontracting practices cause ambiguous responsibilities in maintaining OHS. Next,
Statement 24 (3.27) and Statement 22 (3.23) indicate agreement that onerousness of legislative
enforcement hinders good OHS practice and that accidents can be prevented if workers apply their
common sense during work. Finally, Statement 23 (3.08) shows a lesser agreement with the notion that
workers tend to be overconfident with their past work experience and underestimate risk.

Of note is that the standard deviation results for Statement 22 (1.06) and 23 (1.00) are slightly higher due
to the different opinions of the blue (on-site) and white (other professions) collar workers involved in the
study.

Table 3: Responses regarding lack of safety awareness and concern

Statement
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly

Strongly
Neutral

Agree

agree

Standard
deviation
Median
Mean

Mode
1 2 3 4 5
19. The risk perception and safety management 0 0 4 44 4 4.00 4 4 0.40
commitment are directly linked to overall safety
performance.
20. Subcontracting practices result in ambiguous or 0 3 19 30 0 3.52 4 4 0.61
unclear responsibility for maintaining OHS.
21. High mobility of subcontracted labour reduces the 0 4 18 26 4 3.58 4 4 0.75
familiarity of workers with site environment, increasing
the injury rates.
22. Accidents can be prevented so long as the 0 20 4 24 4 3.23 4 4 1.06
employees work in ways which apply their common
sense.
23. Workers tend to be overconfident with their past 0 18 19 10 6 3.08 3 3 1.00
working experiences and underestimate the risk.
24. The onerousness and variability of legislative 0 3 34 13 2 3.27 4 4 0.63
enforcement can hinder the effectiveness of OHS
practice

10
Figure 4 shows that 63.5% (33) respondents rank “wrong perception or underestimation of risk” as the
most significant barrier to good OHS practice in small construction companies, followed by “fragmented
nature of construction industry” with 15 votes and “onerousness and variability of legislation” with only 4
out of 52 votes.

40
35
30
25
20 Ranking no.1
15
10 Ranking no.2
5 Ranking no.3
0
Fragmented nature Wrong perception Onerousness and
ofconstruction or underestimation variability of
industry of risk legislation

Figure 4: Ranking of lack of safety awareness and concern

Barrier rankings

Of the three categories of barriers, Figure 5 shows that 67.3% (35) respondents ranked “lack of safety
awareness and concern” as the most significant barrier to good OHS practice in small construction
companies. This is followed by “cost barrier” which had 12 votes and the least significant barrier is “time
barrier” which had only 7 votes out of 52 votes.

40
35
30
25
20 Ranking no.1
15 Ranking no.2
10 Ranking no.3
5
0
Cost Barrier Time Barrier Lack of safety
awareness and
concern

Figure 5: Ranking of the three main barriers to good OHS practice

11
5.3 Additional barriers

Apart from the barriers given in the questionnaire, an open-ended question also sought the opinions of
respondents in concerning any other barriers affecting good OHS practice by small construction
companies. Those offered comprise:

a) Fear of change of the company;

b) The high risk nature of construction industry;

c) Inadequate communication between the OHS law enforcer and small construction firms preventing
good OHS practice;

d) Ineffectiveness of safety training; and

e) Absence of inspection and enforcement of OHS laws.

5.4 Recommendations

Answers to a further open-ended question requesting suggestions or recommendations for overcoming the
barriers to good OHS practice in small construction companies comprise:

a) Participation of the tertiary educational sector in OHS training;

b) Greater penalties for non-compliance and financial rewards for compliance;

d) Provide financial assistance to small firms in developing OHS competence;

e) Conduct proper safety training before engaging in any construction works;

f) Regular monitoring and evaluation of the company’s' safety performance; and

g) Clear description of OHS responsibilities on each project in the contractual arrangements.

6 Discussion and conclusions

While the research is limited to identifying the barriers to good OHS practice by small construction
companies in South East Queensland, the results are consistent with the existing theories from the
literature. The main findings of this research are that the barriers to good OHS practice in small
construction firms are, in order of strength of agreement:

 the lack of safety awareness and concern, where wrong perceptions or underestimation of risks
and the onerousness and variability of legislative enforcement are the main contributors

12
  cost issues, comprising lack of resources and facilities, financial pressures and lack of bargaining
power over main contractors, make it difficult for small businesses to focus on issues other than
project cost, schedule and quality
 tight project deadlines and the long training and education period needed for good OHS practice.

Recommendations from those involved to overcome these barriers and promote OHS practice in small
construction companies, are for:

 the government to establish funding schemes to ease the financial burden of small firms
 OHS to be included in the curricula of tertiary and technical education
 more emphasis to be placed on attitudes and skills development rather than just information
transfer during OHS training
 an effective monitoring system to be established with a penalty and reward mechanism operated
for both non-compliance and good performance
 the safety conditions of a project to be evaluated prior to the start of project
 clear practical guidance information on OHS to be made available to construction companies
without too much legal or technical jargon.

The findings of this research provide a better understanding of the barriers which obstruct good OHS
practices by small construction businesses and a first step towards their improvement. Future research
would benefit from a larger sample size and in-depth case studies. Remedial actions for reducing the
barriers to good OHS practice in small construction companies also need to be developed and tested in
future studies to contribute to the continuous improvement of the safety of workers in small construction
firms.

13
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