Influence of Person-Organizational Fit on Construction Safety Climate

Abstract

Safety climate has long been considered a leading indicator for the management of construction safety. Although previous research has concluded that the safety climate of an organization is significantly affected by communication among its individuals, only a limited number of construction studies have explored this relationship as mediated by organizational fit. To redress this deficiency, this study investigated the association between communication and safety climate mediated by person-organization (P-O) fit. First, a baseline of communication responsibilities was established by analyzing project-related documentation from four subcontractors in China. Through a review of this documentation, 80 responses were collected, which were subjected to social network analysis (SNA) to develop metrics that gauge communication performance. By analyzing person-organization fit in terms of communication [as determined by degree centrality (POF-D) and betweenness centrality (POF-B)], the association between communicative performance and safety climate was established. The analyses revealed that high POF-D can yield an organizational environment that restricts team communication, thus limiting the opportunities to improve the organization’s safety climate. In contrast, high POF-B can generate a more relaxing atmosphere in which managers promote open communication, thus facilitating the improvement of the organization’s safety climate. Given these findings, this study provides a new perspective for investigating the relationship between communication and safety climate in the construction industry. As such, it provides the basis for future research in this area.