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Poor safety is a perennial problem for the construction industry worldwide. The concept of safety climate has been strongly linked to safety performance, yet inconsistent methodologies make international comparisons problematic. In addressing this gap in research, a comparative safety climate survey of 515 construction operatives and managers in Australia, Indonesia, and China is presented using a standardized tool. The results highlight interesting similarities and differences between safety climate in each country and question taken–for–granted assumptions that safety climate in countries with relatively mature regulatory structures like Australia are more positive than in less developed countries like Indonesia and China. Results also highlight the intermediating effects of factors such as management commitment and cultural differences in shaping safety climate. Highlighting the potential value of theories of new institutionalism and cultural and ethical relativism, the paper concludes by raising important new practical, theoretical, and methodological questions about the merits and challenges of making international comparisons of safety climate, even when using standardized measurement tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safety is a major concern in the construction industry because fatalities and injuries from construction work bring great losses to individuals, organizations, and societies as a whole. This paper aims to understand how construction personnel perceive safety risks in China as compared with those in Australia. Postal questionnaire surveys were used to collect data on safety risk perceptions from the two nations. The safety risk factors were assessed using a risk significance index based on the likelihood of occurrences and the impacts on safety performance. The survey results revealed that in China the main perception of safety risks came from human-and/or procedure-related issues, with “low/no safety education” paramount, followed by “inadequate fire prevention and electrical prevention procedures,” etc. In contrast, the major safety risks perceived in Australia were related to the environment and physical site conditions with “contamination of land, water and air” ranked first, followed by “unforeseen excavation of soil,” etc. To minimize construction safety risks in China, this paper suggests that the government should develop collective legislation and safety protection procedures, and enforce safety education and training to all site participants. Risks related to environmental and site conditions were generally realized by the Australia construction industry, which were not highly acknowledged in China. This may also bring imminent attention in this regard to the Chinese government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]