Safety communication in construction projects in Vietnam from contractors’ perspective

Abstract

Little is known about how specific participants send and receive safety information and training whilst safety is always an essential factor contributing to the success of a project. Research examining the patterns of safety communication, especially in emerging markets like Vietnam, is therefore necessary. Data was collected through case studies and interviews with six contractor’s managers in different projects. This paper presents a social network analysis approach that has been used a wide range of applications and disciplines to analyse and measure how safety communication occurs between project participants. The results show that there is a clustering in the way the organization communicates about occupational safety. At the same time, there is a relationship between the frequency of exchanging information on occupational safety and the satisfaction with the work safety in the project of the contractor's managers. Initially, it can be surmised that the frequency of information exchange on occupational safety in Vietnam is similar to that in many other countries. In addition, the projects have a variety of occupational safety communication channels. In terms of applicability, metrics like ones presented in this paper can perfectly serve as a leading set of safety performance indicators, which can be rapidly measured and modeled at the outset of a project and throughout project implementation.