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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Built Environ.
Sec. Construction Management
Volume 10 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fbuil.2024.1441941
This article is part of the Research Topic Enhancing Construction Personnel’s Safety, Well-being and Productivity View all 3 articles

Examining Challenges in Adopting Safety Leading Indicators for Construction Projects in South Africa

Provisionally accepted
Samuel Adekunle Samuel Adekunle 1*Damilola Onatayo Damilola Onatayo 2Isimemen Ejohwomu Isimemen Ejohwomu 3Clinton Aigbavboa Clinton Aigbavboa 1
  • 1 University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • 2 Denamis construction, Nigeria, Ota, Nigeria
  • 3 University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Purpose: The construction industry has been observed to be one of the most dangerous sectors in which to work; thus, it has struggled to attract new employees and suffered from skill shortages. Another characteristic is adopting a reactive approach to preventing accidents instead of a proactive approach that implements safety-leading indicators. In contributing to achieving a safer construction industry, this study investigated the barriers to achieving a proactive approach to safety in the construction industry.Method: The study adopted a quantitative approach. Data was collected by randomly administering a well-structured questionnaire to industry professionals in South Africa. One hundred and two questionnaires were collected and used as the basis for data analysis and interpretation by the study. R e s u l t: The analysis of the collected data identified nineteen significant barriers which were clustered into two based on an exploratory factor analysis. The top three ranked significant barriers are Lack of Top management's commitment to safety, Lack of leadership training and Prioritising productivity over employee safety. The two clusters formed from the nineteen barriers through factor analysis are top management approaches to safety and Safety culture through employeecentric training and accountability.Originality: Considering the accident data from South Africa, and the inherent benefits of implementing SLI to overcome this, this study provides critical insights for industry stakeholders and policymakers. It fills a gap that has not been filled in the developing country context before now.

    Keywords: SLI, Proactive safety behavior, developing countries, Construction project, HSE (Health, Safety and Environment)

    Received: 31 May 2024; Accepted: 08 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Adekunle, Onatayo, Ejohwomu and Aigbavboa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Samuel Adekunle, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.