How fatigue affects the safety behaviour intentions of construction workers an empirical study in Hunan, China

Abstract

Fatigue is considered to have a negative impact on workers’ safety performance. However, until now, research on the fatigue of construction workers has not been examined in depth, and the action paths and effects of different types of fatigue have not been well explained. This study categorized the fatigue of construction workers into psychological and physiological fatigue, and proposed a structural equation model to study the influence of the two types of fatigue on the safety behaviour intentions (SBIs) of construction workers. To further improve the research model, attitude, perceived behavioural control, supervisor safety perception, and co-worker safety perception were introduced based on the theory of planned behaviour and social identity theory. The research model was validated using data from 392 questionnaires collected from 15 construction sites in Hunan, China, the interaction between the seven factors in the model being revealed. The conclusions of this study were as follows: First, physiological and psychological fatigue, as well as personal identity and social identity variables, could directly affect the intention to engage in safe behaviour. Second, physiological and psychological fatigue had indirect effects on safety behaviour intention, but there were differences in their action paths. Third, the safety climate (from a site level to an individual level) can contribute to the worker’s safety behaviour intentions. These findings provide invaluable insight for research personnel to have a better understanding of the relationships between fatigue and safety behaviour intention.