The effects of feedback and goal setting on safety performance at two construction sites

An internal safety inspection hits to be carried out weekly on building construction sites in Finland. This procedure is widely believed to be ineffective, as illustrated by the high accident rates in the building industry. In this study, a new method for weekly inspections, based on participation and the principles of performance management, was tested at two construction sites. Eight safety rules were formulated together with the safety personnel of the company. Once a week the supervisor and the workers' safety delegate observed the safety lever, using a standard observation method. After baseline observations, an information meeting was organized for all workers, and thereafter the safety index of each weekly observation round was marked on a large graph on the wall of the dining room. The safety index rose from the baseline of 60% to 89% during the feedback at Site 1. At Site 2 the index rose from 67% to 91%. The stage of the construction process had no significant effect on the results; the index level of 90% was achieved at all stages of the process. The most visible change was an improvement in order and tidiness. The subindexes concerning protection against falling, machine safety, scaffoldings and use of personal protective devices improved to nearly 100%, which should prevent severe injuries in particular. The new audit method with weekly graphic feedback could well be a method for the construction industry to reach a radically higher safety level. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd