Appraisal of Safety Culture among Construction Workers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the safety culture among selected construction companies in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional descriptive multi-case study design was adopted. The target population comprised construction workers in Akwa Ibom State, while four construction companies were purposively selected as the study cases. A total of 40 workers, comprising 16 supervisors/managers and 24 office/technical workers, participated in the study. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire containing 11 safety-culture statements measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages and weighted mean scores, were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed an overwhelmingly positive perception of safety culture among the respondents. Supervisors/managers recorded an overall mean score of approximately 4.84, while office/technical workers recorded an overall mean of approximately 4.69. Among supervisors/managers, the highest scores were recorded for the existence of a safety policy and management commitment to safety (5.00 each), while the lowest was for sharing and learning from incidents (4.63). Among office/technical workers, teamwork recorded the highest mean score (4.88), while organisational commitment to personnel training recorded the lowest (4.58). No respondent selected Strongly Disagree or Disagree for any of the assessed items. The findings suggest that the selected construction companies have generally strong safety-culture characteristics, particularly in management commitment, teamwork, safety communication, safety rules, worker involvement, incident investigation and the prioritisation of safety over production pressure. However, the small sample size, purposive sampling technique and inclusion of only four companies limit generalisation of the findings. The study recommends continuous strengthening of safety training, worker participation, incident learning, hazard reporting and safety leadership. Larger studies involving more construction companies and probability-based sampling are recommended to enhance generalisability.