Exploring safety communication patterns in small work groups in the construction industry : a theoretical framework

The short term and transitory nature of the construction industry is one of the factors that have been correlated to the poor safety performance of the industry. Effective safety communication between all parties is an essential part of safety performance. The construction industry is highly regulated due to its high incidence of work-place accidents. This is especially true of smaller building companies/enterprises where the burden of compliance to safety regulations is most onerous. The majority of current research in this topic area has focused on identifying the high risk components or the causes of increased risks. The literature on safety communication network patterns and its relation to safety performance is nevertheless minimal. Thus, this study is aimed at exploring the safety communication issue in the construction industry by analysing the communications patterns in small workgroups. It is proposed that modern analytical techniques such as social network analysis be utilised to identify patterns of safety communications. Data are designed to be collected through surveys with construction crews and their members that are contributing to active construction projects. This paper, based on a literature review, reports on a theoretical framework of the relation between communication network patterns and safety performance