Repository logo
 

Managing through measurement: occupational health and safety in the construction industry

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorSchwatka, Natalie V., author
dc.contributor.authorRosecrance, John, advisor
dc.contributor.authorGilkey, David, committee member
dc.contributor.authorBrazile, William, committee member
dc.contributor.authorHenry, Kimberly, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-03T06:40:35Z
dc.date.available2007-01-03T06:40:35Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractThe purpose of my dissertation was to describe five original research activities designed to characterize and enhance the health and safety of U.S. construction workers. The sequence of research activities illustrates my focus on occupational health and safety (OHS) measurement methods (i.e., lagging and leading measures), as well as an interest in translating this research into practical methods for industry stakeholders. First, I investigated a vulnerable sub-population of construction workers, the aging workforce, via a literature review and analysis of workers' compensation (WC) data. Through the results of these studies, I found that aging workers may have a different OHS experience than younger workers (e.g., greater lost work time costs), but the frequency and cost of injuries and illnesses was high regardless of worker age. Furthermore, in the cost regression models, the age of the claimant only accounted for a small amount of variance, which suggests that other factors influence the cost of a WC claim (e.g., organizational factors such as safety climate). Second, I investigated safety climate measurement methods, and translated prior safety climate research into an intervention for construction site supervisors. I demonstrated that safety climate could be measured via worker perceptions of top management, supervisor, and co-workers' response to safety on the job. Furthermore, a supervisor workshop focused on safety climate concepts could improve the safety participation behaviors of supervisors, and their crew members. Together, my findings demonstrate that both lagging and leading measures are valuable indicators of safety performance. Lagging measures such as WC data may serve as motivators for contractors to make decisions regarding safety. Leading measures such as safety climate and safety behaviors may also be useful, because we can use them to identify hazards and their associated risks before they result in serious negative outcomes. Since it was beyond the scope of my dissertation to measure both lagging and leading measures simultaneously, it is important for future research to evaluate the predictive validity of these measures of OHS.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediumdoctoral dissertations
dc.identifierSchwatka_colostate_0053A_12224.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10217/82533
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectaging workforce
dc.subjectleadership
dc.subjectoccupational safety
dc.subjectsafety climate
dc.subjecttraining
dc.subjectworkers' compensation
dc.titleManaging through measurement: occupational health and safety in the construction industry
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineEnvironmental and Radiological Health Sciences
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Schwatka_colostate_0053A_12224.pdf
Size:
1.4 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download

Collections

2000-2019
Theses and Dissertations