Social Network Analysis for Improvement of Safety in Construction Industry: An Ego-Centric Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how construction workers rely on each other on-site in terms of safety. The research outlines how safety-oriented social networks of construction workers can be modeled to better understand the safety communication practices on site. In this regard, a social network survey is conducted, and the respondents’ social network data are collected using a Personal Network Research Design (PNRD) approach to study the connection between the individuals and their close contacts. A total of 142 participants were included in the study. The gathered network data were used to establish their peer-to-peer relationships and quantify the influence of social network characteristics and communication patterns on their safety perspective. This social network analysis incorporated various socio-demographic factors like experience, gender, race, frequency, duration of the communication and the consequence of those variables on workers’ attitudes towards construction safety. The findings from this study provide insights on the significance of different social dimensions and their impact on construction safety culture and performance. The results show how individual safety behavior and perception defer based on their social ties and interactions.