Safety leadership and self-efficacy: enhancing safety culture in the Malaysian construction industry

Abstract

The Malaysian construction industry is renowned for its substantial dependence on a considerable workforce, constituting approximately 12.4% of the nation's total workforce in 2021, the third highest among industries in the country. However, it has raised concerns, ranking fifth and sixth for accidents between 2019 and 2023 and exhibiting the highest number of fatal workplace injuries among industries. This study aimed to investigate the effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between safety leadership and safety culture within the Malaysian construction industry. To conduct the research, data were collected from 385 supervisors, engineers, and project managers employed by Grade G7 contractors registered with the Malaysian Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in four states in the Peninsular of Malaysia. A systematic random sampling method was employed, and data analysis was carried out using SmartPLS 4. The results revealed that safety leadership has a significant effect on safety culture, and self-efficacy played a significant mediating role within these relationships.

Keywords

• self-efficacy
• safety culture
• safety leadership
• construction industry