Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026
05:25
Setup and Execution Of the Blindfolded Code Training Exercise
Published on: March 29, 2019
Improving construction site safety through leader-based verbal safety communication
Pete Kines1, Lars P S Andersen, Soren Spangenberg
1National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark. pki@nrcwe.dk
Journal of Safety Research
|November 10, 2010
Summary
Coaching construction foremen to increase verbal safety communication significantly improved site safety levels. This intervention offers a lasting positive effect, reducing work-related accidents in the construction industry.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health and Safety
- Construction Management
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- The construction industry faces high injury rates due to prioritizing production over safety in daily communication.
- Workers often have an unexpressed, informal culture of risk, with safety rarely discussed openly.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the effect of increasing leader-based verbal safety communication on construction site safety levels and climate.
- To evaluate the impact of coaching foremen on their safety communication with workers.
Main Methods:
- A pre-post intervention-control design was used with five construction work gangs over 42 weeks.
- Foremen in intervention groups received coaching and feedback on daily safety communications.
- Measurements included foremen-worker verbal safety exchanges, site safety levels, and safety climate questionnaires.
Main Results:
- Verbal safety communication between foremen and workers increased significantly (factor 7.1 in one group, factor 4.6 combined).
- Site safety levels increased by 7% and 12% in intervention groups, with notable improvements in 'access ways' and 'railings and coverings'.
- Safety climate showed improvement in 'attention to safety' in one intervention group; control groups showed no significant changes.
Conclusions:
- Coaching foremen to integrate safety into daily verbal exchanges positively impacts site safety levels, serving as a proxy for accident reduction.
- Recommendations include extending coaching to all organizational levels and involving all construction stakeholders.
- Future research should explore longitudinal effects and site-to-site impacts of coaching programs.
Related Concept Videos
01:28Survey Safety
Surveying near highways, rough terrain, or power lines involves significant risks. Working along highways is particularly dangerous and requires the use of warning signs and flagmen. It is safest to avoid working directly on roads and use offsets whenever possible. When highway work is unavoidable, it must follow all safety guidelines. Surveyors should wear bright clothing, such as orange reflective vests, to ensure visibility to motorists, coworkers, and hunters. In construction zones, wearing...
01:29SBAR I: Understanding the Concept
Effective communication among healthcare professionals during hand-off reporting is essential to delivering safe and continuous patient care. Common professional interactions include reports to healthcare team members, hand-off, and transfer reports. Nurses routinely report information to other healthcare team members and also urgently contact healthcare providers to report changes in patient status.
Standardized methods of communication have been developed to ensure that information is...
Standardized methods of communication have been developed to ensure that information is...
01:26Types of Reports III: Telephone and Verbal Reports
Telephone and Verbal Reports in healthcare settings are two communication methods for conveying therapeutic instructions from healthcare providers to nurses or other healthcare staff.
Here's an overview of each type:
Telephone Orders
Here's an overview of each type:
Telephone Orders
01:14SBAR II: Application of SBAR
SBAR is an effective communication tool used by healthcare professionals to communicate patient information accurately. SBAR stands for Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation. For a better understanding, an example is given below.
SBAR Report from a Nurse to a Health Care Provider
S: "Hello, Dr. Smith. This is Jane, RN, from the Med Surg unit. I am calling to tell you about Ms. White in Room 210, who is experiencing increased pain and redness at her incision site. Her recent...
SBAR Report from a Nurse to a Health Care Provider
S: "Hello, Dr. Smith. This is Jane, RN, from the Med Surg unit. I am calling to tell you about Ms. White in Room 210, who is experiencing increased pain and redness at her incision site. Her recent...
01:21Barriers to Effective Communication II
The barriers to effective communication also include cultural barriers, semantic barriers, gender barriers, and time constraints.
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...
01:08Obedience
According to obedience research, we may harm others under the forceful pressures of an authority figure (Milgram, 1974). How about if the inappropriate orders were delivered with less force? The increasing interdependence between nurses and physicians compelled Hofling and his colleagues to explore nurses’ reactions to a potentially harmful medical request made by the perceived authority figure, the doctor (Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves, & Pierce, 1966). In this situation, obedience...