Identification of Safety-Related Opinion Leaders among Construction Workers: Evidence from Scaffolders of Metro Construction in Wuhan, China

Abstract

This study aimed to reveal opinion leaders who could impact their coworkers' safety-related performance in Chinese construction teams. Questionnaires were distributed to 586 scaffolders in Wuhan to understand their opinions about influencing their coworkers, serving as the foundation for a social network analysis to identify the potential opinion leaders among workers. A further controlled trial with the identified workers was conducted to select real opinion leaders by comparing their influence on others' safety-related behavior, followed by an association analysis to profile these opinion leaders. Two main sources of opinion leaders were identified: foremen and seasoned workers. Implementing interventions through opinion leaders resulted in better safety-related behavior performance. Furthermore, compared with education level, the association analysis results indicated that one's practical skills and familiarity with respondents was more important in the formulation of opinion leaders. This research introduces the concept of opinion leaders into construction safety and proposes an approach to identify and validate opinion leaders within a crew, thus providing a tool to improve behavior promotion on sites, as well as a new perspective for viewing interactions among workers.

Keywords: construction safety; opinion leader; scaffolder team; social network analysis; unsafe behavior.

Figure 1

Project 1 social network structure.

Figure 2

Project 2 social network structure.

Figure 3

Project 3 social network structure.

Figure 4

Safety Index (SI) change trend chart for the control group and intervention group.

Figure 5

Safety Index (SI) change in six unsafe behaviors for two groups after intervention. Group 1: intervention group; Group 2: control group. Behavior 1: working in sleety weather without non-slipping shoes; Behavior 2: working more than 2 m high without safety harness; Behavior 3: climbing up and down the scaffold without protection; Behavior 4: standing in a location without sufficient scaffold floor; Behavior 5: throwing member bars from height during dismantling; and Behavior 6: stacking materials on scaffolds.