The art of role-switching–positioning practices and the relational roles of OSH coordinators in the Danish construction industry

Abstract

The occupational safety and health (OSH) coordinator is an important figure for improving OSH in the construction industry. Working as an OSH coordinator is complicated, and coordinators must attend to many different roles to improve OSH. Recent research has even questioned the effectiveness of OSH professional practice. This points to a need to understand how OSH coordinators position themselves in relation to different roles when performing effective OSH coordination. This study aims to expand upon this question by analyzing how OSH coordinators position themselves in situations leading to the implementation of OSH measures. In the study, practices of OSH coordinators in the Danish construction industry are analyzed by “zooming in” on micro-sociological positioning practices observed during 107 days of ethnographic fieldwork, e.g. speech acts, and by “zooming out” on the links between these positioning practices and the implementation of OSH measures. The study contributes to OSH research and practice in several ways; firstly, the study conceptualizes a typology of practices connected to the relational roles of OSH professionals. Secondly, it expands upon how negotiating for the implementation of OSH measures is a relationally complex matter in which OSH coordinators switch between positioning themselves as alliance builders, authorities, challengers, experts, influencers, and champions. Improving attention and education to accommodate this knowledge may contribute to the creation of more tangible borders around the OSH professional practice, and more impactful OSH practice in terms of implementing measures.