Safety climate and occupational safety behaviours: the mediating role of psychological ownership among construction professionals

Purpose Encouraging employee's safety behaviour remains a challenge in the construction industry from developing countries. Several studies have examined the nexus between safety climate and safety behaviour. This paper investigates the psychological ownership as a mediator in the relationship between safety climate and occupational safety behaviours among construction professionals in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional design was used for the study. Two hundred and eighty-two respondents (282) took part in the study by completing an online survey. The respondents were selected using a convenience sample technique. Data were processed using IBM SPSS version 21. The results were analysed using PLS-SEM. Findings Results of the study reveal that safety climate positively predicts construction professional's safety behaviour and psychological ownership. Furthermore, psychological ownership was found to (1) predict occupational safety behaviour and (2) mediate the nexus of safety climate and occupational safety behaviour. Practical implications Managers should continuously implement far-reaching policies that would promote healthy workplace safety climate and feeling of ownership among construction professionals. Originality/value This paper is one of the pioneers to have tested a model including safety climate, occupational safety behaviour and psychological ownership in a constructional profession.

Automated summary

This study investigates the relationship between safety climate, occupational safety behavior, and psychological ownership, and finds that safety climate positively predicts construction professional's safety behavior and psychological ownership. Furthermore, psychological ownership is found to predict occupational safety behavior and mediate the relationship between safety climate and occupational safety behavior.