Improving safety climate through a communication and recognition program for construction: a mixed methods study

Editorial verdict

Methodologically sound RCT with acknowledged limitations. The safety climate improvement is statistically significant but modest in magnitude; the mixed-methods design strengthens credibility, though site imbalances and small cluster count warrant cautious interpretation.

Executive summary

This study addresses the high rate of fatal and non-fatal injuries in the construction industry and evaluates a leading indicator-based safety communication and recognition program called 'Building Safety for Everyone' (B-SAFE). The authors — Sparer, Catalano, Herrick, and Dennerlein — argue that traditional injury-based safety incentive programs may suppress injury reporting and that communication and recognition programs focused on hazard control offer a more ethical and effective alternative. The study employed a matched-pair cluster randomized controlled trial across eight commercial construction worksites in the greater Boston area, with pre- and post-exposure surveys (N=615) and focus groups. Quantitative findings showed intervention sites experienced a mean safety climate increase of 0.5 points versus a decrease of 0.8 points at control sites, yielding an adjusted intervention effect size of 1.64 (3.28%) on a 50-point scale (P=0.01). Qualitative focus groups corroborated improvements in safety awareness, communication, teamwork, and introduced themes of collaborative competition and positive reinforcement. The authors conclude that B-SAFE represents a low-cost, practical add-on to existing robust safety programs, with potential implications for worksite injury reduction.

Frameworks mentioned

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