Abstract
Risk taking among construction workers is a critical topic in construction safety research. The aim of this study was to empirically investigate how optimism bias and safety climate influence construction worker risk-taking behavior. A survey with a designed questionnaire was conducted to collect data from construction workers. A total of 183 construction workers participated in this study and completed the designed questionnaire. The collected data were subjected to statistical analysis by using structural equation modeling. Results show that optimism bias related to work risks positively influences construction worker risk-taking behavior, whereas safety climate and optimism bias related to hazard perception skills negatively affect the risk-taking behavior. These findings can enrich the literature on construction worker risk-taking behavior from the perspective of optimism bias and safety climate. Practical implications are provided for discouraging construction workers from taking risks at work.
Highlights
The mean scores of the optimism bias related to hazard perception skills and optimism bias related to work risks were 4.11 (SD = 1.49) and 3.63 (SD = 1.73), respectively
The mean score of the optimism bias related to hazard perception skills was not significantly different (p = 0.300), whereas that of optimism bias related to work risks was significantly different (p = 0.004) from the score of 4.0, which represented neutrality on the scale
Construction workers who hold a high level of optimism bias related to work risks tend to take risks when they work at construction sites
Summary
The aim of this study was to empirically investigate how optimism bias and safety climate influence construction worker risk-taking behavior.
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