Comparing the Psychosocial Safety Climate between Megaprojects and Non-Megaprojects: Evidence from China

Linlin Xie,Bo Xia,Martin Skitmore,Carol Hon,Guixin Lin

doi:10.3390/app10248809

Abstract

Compared to non-megaprojects, megaprojects are often more complex and riskier, and construction employees are thus susceptible to a higher level of psychosocial hazards, which adversely affect their psychosocial health and safety performance. The psychosocial safety climate evaluates the employees’ perceived level of psychosocial health and safety of the workplace and reveals the causes of psychosocial hazards that need to be addressed; it is, therefore, of great significance to determine whether the psychosocial safety climate (PSC) of megaprojects is different from that of non-megaprojects. A questionnaire survey is described involving 10 megaprojects and 143 non-megaprojects in China. The results show that, contrary to expectations, the psychosocial safety climate of megaprojects is significantly better than that of non-megaprojects. Compared with those of non-megaprojects, the employees of megaprojects have a higher common perception of the organization’s emphasis on psychosocial health and safety-related policies, procedures, and behavioral practices in work processes. This research, for the first time, demonstrates and tests the use of the psychosocial safety climate scale (PSC-12) for measuring the construction industry’s PSC, provides insights for understanding the psychosocial safety climate of megaprojects, and serves as a reference for organizational management to intervene in employees’ psychosocial health and correct unsafe behaviors. It also contributes to theoretical research and the measurement standards of psychological safety in megaprojects.

Highlights

The world is witnessing a boom in the construction of megaprojects; the McKinsey ConsultingGroup predicts that investment in megaprojects will grow to USD 57 trillion by 2030 [1]
When the psychosocial safety climate (PSC) of an organization is higher than 41 points, the organization is deemed to be at low risk and it indicates that the perceived PSC level is good, belonging to a high-PSC-level organization [10,46]
This shows that the organization is at low risk, the PSC of employees in the construction industry is at a medium-high level, and they have a high common perception of the organization’s emphasis on its employees’ psychological health and safety-related policies, regulations, and behavioral practices

Summary

Introduction

The world is witnessing a boom in the construction of megaprojects; the McKinsey ConsultingGroup predicts that investment in megaprojects will grow to USD 57 trillion by 2030 [1]. China’s megaprojects are second to none in the world in terms of both the total amount of construction and individual scale and involve the world’s leading technology and philosophy [2,3]. Frequent accidents in megaprojects involve an irreparable loss of life and property to individuals directly affected and the poor psychological health and safety of relatives and friends due to their remorse for the loss. They create a great economic burden on companies and a negative image of the country.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion