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ISSN: 2276-7495
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Research Article
Volume 2012, Article ID sjeer-167, 6 Pages, 2012. doi: 10.7237/sjeer/167
Assessment of National Culture Dimensions and Construction Health and Safety Climate in
Nigeria
Okolie, K. C¹, Okoye, P.U. ²
¹ Lecturer Department of Building, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria
² Lecturer Department of Building, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria
Accepted 24�� May 2012
Abstract
Despite the increasing growth in the construction subsector in
Nigeria, the institutional and regulatory framework for
construction health and safety is highly fragmented and poorly
implemented. The purpose of this paper was to explore the
influence of national culture on the construction workers safety
climate in South East Nigeria. The study employed the survey
research method for the investigation. Structured questionnaires
were administered to a sample of site operatives and management
staff/personnel involved in construction projects in the study area.
The responses were analyzed using the Product-Moment
Correlation Coefficient (r) to determine the relationship between
national culture dimensions and safety climate. A two-tailed t-test
was also utilized to ascertain the significance of the relationship in
the correlation observed. The study revealed that all five cultural
dimensions except long term orientation highly and positively
correlated with safety climate which invariably influences the
safety perceptions and behaviour of construction workers. The
correlation coefficients of the other four dimensions ranged from
0.75 to 0.99 while long term orientation dimension has correlation
coefficients of 0.47 and 0.65 for operatives and managers
respectively. In view of these revelations, there is urgent need for
the provision of adequate and enforceable health and safety
regulations for construction operations as well as the
establishment of construction industry training institutes including
trade centres in different parts of Nigeria. The study also advocates
adequate consideration of workers cultural values and beliefs for
a successful project implementation and delivery.
Keyword: National Culture, Safety Climate, Construction
Workers, Nigerian Construction Industry.
Introduction
Construction industry is the hub of social and economic
development in all countries of the world. Though, the
construction industry contributed only about 1.98% of the
total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the Nigeria economy
in 2009, its importance and roles in the development of the
economy of any nation can never be disputed (National
Bureau of Statistics, 2010) However, when compared with
other labour intensive industries, construction industry has
historically experienced a disproportionately high rate of
disability injuries and fatalities for its size (Hinze, 1997).
The industry alone produces 30% of all fatal industrial
accidents across the European Union (EU), yet it employs
only 10% of the working population (McKenzi; Gibb, and
Bouchlaghem, 1999). In The United States of America (USA),
the construction industry accounts for 22% of all fatal
accidents (Che Hassan; Basha, and Hanafi 2007). In other
countries such as Japan United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland,
Corresponding Author: Okolie, K. C
Lecturer Department of Building, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria
Email:Kevchuks@yahoo.com
the situation is even not better. Bomel (2001) notes that in
Japan, construction accidents account for 30%-40% of the
overall industrial accidents, with the total being 50% in
Ireland and 25% in the United Kingdom (UK). This situation
is worse in the developing countries, particularly Nigeria
where there are no reliable sources of data for such accident
records. Currently, Nigeria is relatively experiencing a
strong growth in construction activities. Unfortunately,
anecdotal evidence shows that the enforcement of health
and safety regulations is not a mainstream activity in
Nigeria. Reacting to this state of affairs, Idoro (2007; 2008)
argues that the framework of existing occupational and
health conditions in Nigerian construction industry is
grossly fragmented and inadequately enforced. Idoro (2008)
therefore concludes that good health and safety conditions
constitute good and safe business practice in construction.
Generally, the integration of health and safety measures into
the total quality management system within the
construction sector could significantly contribute to cost
efficiency, quality assurance, environmental sustainability,
better employee-employer relation and satisfaction;
Nevertheless, divergent perceptions, behaviours and actions
exhibited by construction workers lead to serious accidents
on site. This state of affairs has been linked to different
cultural backgrounds. These cultural differences, according
to authors (Ali, 2006; Che-Hassan et al., 2007; Ismail;
Hashim, Ismail, and Majid 2009) have significant impacts
on industrial safety climate. The authors further argue that
adequate consideration of these differences help to
understand different approaches to accident prevention and
safety management. Ngowi and Mothibi (1996) found that
cultural differences were the major reason for viewing
safety procedures differently on construction sites in
Botswana. Given the above scenario, the need for a proper
investigation into the impact of national culture on the
Nigerian construction safety climate is imperative.
1.2 Research Aim and Objectives
The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of
national culture on construction safety climate so as to
provide a functional and effective safety climate for
construction workers in Nigeria. In this regard, the specific
objectives of the study include:
● To provide a better understanding of safety climate and
factors that affect workers perceptions and attitudes
towards safety on construction site;
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● To determine the national culture dimensions that
influence workers safety perceptions and attitudes
(safety climate) on construction site;
● To establish the influence of national culture
dimensions on construction workers' safety climate;
and
● To recommend appropriate framework for effective
safety climate of construction workers in Nigeria.
2.0 Review
2.1 Safety Climate
Safety climate and safety culture are often used in a
complementary manner. Although safety climate is not
synonymous with safety culture, both have formed the
nucleus of organizational climate and culture respectively
(Okoye, 2010). For the past three decades or thereabout,
safety climate and safety culture have received considerable
attention in the safety literature. According to Mohd Saidin;
Abdul, Yusof, Syamsus, and Mat (2008), the term safety
culture was introduced during the nuclear safety debate of
the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Advisory
Committee for safety in Nuclear Installations (ACSNI)
(1993), defines safety culture as the product of individual
and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competence's and
patterns of behavior that determine the commitment to
safety and the life style and proficiency of an organization's
health and safety management. The overall safety culture
can be described as a set of beliefs, norms, attitudes and
social technical practices that are concerned with
minimizing the exposure of individuals within and beyond
an organization, to conditions considered dangerous or
injurious. Safety culture is seen according to Mohd Saidin
et al. (2008), as a sub facet of organizational culture and
exists at a higher level of abstraction than safety climate.
But Cooper (2000) argues that it seems plausible that safety
culture and safety climate are not reflective of a unitary
concept, rather, they are complementary independent
concepts.
2.2 Safety Climate Factors
Several researchers have identified different safety climate
factors related to construction industry (Glendon and
Litherland, 2001; Mohamed, 2002; and Yule; Flin, and
Murdy 2007). However, in designing a framework for safety
climate questionnaire, Fu; Zhang, Xi and Zhang (2006)
review a number of safety climate surveys mainly from the
year 2000 and found that nine (9) safety climate dimensions
were most common. These include:
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Belief and value;
Management commitment;
Risk level and hazards identify;
Management efficiency;
Workers involvement and commitment;
Safety institutes and specialists;
Safety education and training;
Site management; and
Standardization.
Science Journal of Environmental Engineering Research(ISSN: 2276-7495)
When these nine (9) dimensions were analyzed and
compared, the results show that management commitment
and management efficiency occupy the first two (2)
positions. Fu et al. (2006) however, suggest that researches
involving detailed safety climate questionnaire could be
based on the nine (9) outlined dimensions. The study,
however, observes that safety climate factors can best be
categorized into four (4) factors; namely:
●
●
●
●
Management commitment;
Workers involvement;
Safety education and training; and
Beliefs and perceptions.
These factors are therefore critical and relevant in the
analyses and discussion of safety climate for construction
workers in Nigeria
2.3 Safety Management in the Construction Industry
In the modern business environment, occupational health
and safety has become a very sensitive management aspect,
which influences the very survival of organizations in some
extreme cases (Bhutto; Griffith and Stephenson 2004). In
view of this, the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) (2005) advocates that organizations shift from
traditional safety management approach, which is reactive
to a modern approach that is more proactive. The
emergence of new regulations, laws, standards and codes
has also made many construction organizations to improve
their safety performance. This is indirectly an indication
that construction industry is showing interest in
construction safety and health management. ICAO (2005)
therefore, defines safety management system as an
organized approach to managing safety, including the
necessary organizational structures, accountabilities,
policies, and procedures. It relates to actual practices, roles
and functions associated with remaining safe (Ali, 2006).
Also Mohd Saidin et al. (2008) emphasized that effective
safety management is both functional (involving
management control, monitoring, executive and
communication sub-systems), and human (involving
leadership, political and safety culture sub-systems
paramount to safety culture).
2.4 National Culture and Construction Industry
Societies in which we live and grow up have their own sets
of rules about the way we behave and interact with others.
These rules or norms are not written down, and often, we
are not even conscious of them. Such rules or norms which
enable societies to act accordingly within their own
environment are collectively called "culture" (Hope, 2004)
An organization is a subset of the entity called society and
each society has its own shared values and attitudes.
Consequently, workers working within the organization
constitute part of the organization. Thus, the workers,
invariably exhibit the society's attitudes and behaviours as
well. Therefore, organization's safety culture cannot be
discussed without integral societal culture. In view of the
foregoing, Peckitt; Glendon, and Booth (2002) contend that
these societal forces that dictate the prevalent attitudes and
behaviours relating to safety within a given culture are
fundamental to the study of safety climate. According to Ang
How to Cite this Article: Okolie, K. C1, Okoye, P.U. , “Assessment of National Culture Dimensions and Construction Health and Safety Climate in Nigeria,”Science Journal of
Environmental Engineering Research, Volume 2012, Article ID sjeer-167, 6 Pages, 2012. doi: 10.7237/sjeer/167
Science Journal of Environmental Engineering Research(ISSN: 2276-7495)
and Ofori (2001), culture possesses the following
properties:
● It is social heritage or tradition;
● It is shared, learned human behavior; and
● It is symbolic and based on shared, assigned meaning
of the members of a group.
However, Samovar; Poster and Jain (1981) see culture as
the culmination of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values,
attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, timing, roles,
spatial relations, concepts of the universe and material
objects and possessions acquired by a large group of people
in the course of generation through individual and group
striving. Mohd Saidin et al. (2008) argue that businesses are
embedded within a given institutional and social setting;
thus, making them susceptible to the influence of national
culture. In the construction industry also, several researches
have confirmed that the industry is being influenced by
national culture; both at international and local levels
(Akiner & Tijhuis, 2008; Ang & Ofori, 2001; Bredillet et al.,
2009; Brochner; Josephson and Kadefors 2002; Chan & Tse,
2003; Kivrak; Ross and Arslan 2008; Lieshout &
Steurenthaler, 2006; Mearns & Yule, 2009; Mohammed;
White and Prabhakar 2008; Nummelin, & Sappala, 2005).
2.5 Dimensions of National Culture
To understand the influence of culture on societies, national
culture needs to be classified into dimensions or categories
(Hofstede, 1991; Aluko, 2003). Hofstede (1991, 2001)
conducted one of the most influential studies on national
and organizational culture based on the 1967 to 1973
studies at IBM (International Business Machines)
worldwide and subsequent updates.
Jones (2007)
acknowledges that it is the most celebrated of its kind. The
empirical analysis resulted in a concise framework of
dimensions for differentiating national culture. Thus, five
(5) cultural dimensions were identified by Hofstede (1991,
2001). These include:
● Large vs. small power distance (PDI): The dimension
of power distance has to do with the degree or extent
to which unequal distribution of power is accepted or
expected by members of organizations, institutions and
societies;
● Individualism vs. collectivism (IDV): Uncertainty
avoidance (UAI) depicts the extent to which people
react to or are threatened by uncertain or unknown
situations.
● Strong vs. weak uncertainty avoidance (UAI): This
dimension deals with the extent to which people in an
organization or society prefer to work in groups or
Page 3
alone. It indicates the degree of social/community
integration (Jones, 2007).
● Masculinity vs. femininity (MAS): Masculinity
dimension (MAS) does not refer absolutely to the
dominance of gender. Rather, it depicts the degree to
which masculine traits like authority, assertiveness;
performance and success are preferred to female
characteristics such as personal relationships, quality
of life service and welfare (Jones, 2007).
● Long-term vs. short-term orientation (LTO): which
is based on Chinese Confucian dynamism. Although
there has been some strong criticisms on Hofstede's
(1991, 2001) studies, the result of this work has
remained influential (Jones, 2007, Mearns & Yule,
2009).
Other researchers have however, developed different
frameworks for understanding culture, but in most cases,
they have some similarities with Hofstede's dimensions.
Some of the researchers who developed different but related
cultural dimensions in this regard include; Hampden-Turner
and Trompenaar (1993) and Global Leadership and
Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness (GLOBE) project by
House and Dorfman (2001). However, Peckitt et al. (2002)
agree that both Hofstede (1991) and Hampden-Turner and
Trompenaar (1993) studies differ in specific solutions they
choose for problems. Peckitt et al. (2002) further maintain
that though, there are many combinations, the
correspondence between the two is not always perfect.
3.0 Research Methodology
The research was carried out in selected states of the South
Eastern part of Nigeria. I80 questionnaires were distributed
to construction workers (120 site operatives and 60 site
management personnel) in 16 selected construction sites.
The responses from the questionnaire survey and
interviews were subjected to descriptive and quantitative
analysis using simple bar charts, pie charts, tables, and
percentages. Mean score Index and standard deviation were
also used to evaluate the effects of safety climate factors on
workers attitudes and perceptions as well as the influence
of national culture dimensions on safety climate. Pearson
Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) was used to
determine the nature of relationship between culture
dimensions and workers safety climate. Correlation
significance test was carried out with two-tailed non
directional test statistic (t-test) at a given degree of freedom
(n-2) and 5% (0.05) significance level. The analyses and
results of the investigation are presented (Tables 1 to 2) and
discussed in section 4.0.
4.0 Results and Discussion
Table 1: Operatives Correlation between the cultural dimension and safety climate
Safety Climate
Cultural Dimension Correlation Coeff. (r) Nature of association
T - test value
Decision
Power Distance
0.93
Very high +ve corr.
4·380
Reject H0
Collectivism
0.88
High +ve corr.
3.209
Reject H0
How to Cite this Article: Okolie, K. C1, Okoye, P.U. , “Assessment of National Culture Dimensions and Construction Health and Safety Climate in Nigeria,”Science Journal of
Environmental Engineering Research, Volume 2012, Article ID sjeer-167, 6 Pages, 2012. doi: 10.7237/sjeer/167
Science Journal of Environmental Engineering Research(ISSN: 2276-7495)
Page 4
Femininity
Uncertainty
Avoidance
Long term
orientation
0.95
Very high +ve corr.
5.27
Accept H0
0.75
High +ve corr.
1.964
Accept H0
0.47
Low +ve corr.
0.922
Accept H0
Table 1 shows the results of the Pearson’s Correlation
Coefficient (r) and t-test at p<0.05 on the influence of five
cultural dimensions on the safety climate of construction
site workers (operatives’ view). It is shown from the
analysis that power distance dimension has a very high
positive correction with safety climate with a Correlation
Coefficient (r) of (0.93). When tested for correlation
significance at (α = 0.05) significant level, the calculated
t-test value (4.380) was greater than the critical value
(3.182). This result therefore, led to rejection of the Null
hypothesis (H0); concluding that the relationship between
power distance and safety climate is statistically significant
at α = 0.05.
Collectivism, femininity and uncertainty avoidance
dimensions have 0.88, 0.95 and 0.75 respectively as their
correlation coefficients. These three dimensions also
showed high positive relationship with safety climate. But
when tested for correlation significance, collectivism and
femininity have their calculated t-values as 3.209 and 5.270
respectively which are greater than the critical value of
3.182. This equally showed that their association with
safety climate was significant. The Null hypothesis (H0) was
also rejected at α = 0.05 significance level while the
calculated t-test value for uncertainty avoidance was 1.964
which is lesser than the critical value (3.182). It was
therefore concluded that the relationship between
uncertainty avoidance and safety climate is not significant
which led to the adoption of Null hypothesis (H0). However,
the correlation coefficient for long term orientation
dimension was 0.47. This shows a weak positive correlation
between long term orientation and safety climate. When
the correlation was tested for significance, the t-value
obtained was 0.922 which is lower than the critical t-value.
This equally led to acceptance of the Null hypothesis (H0)
and the conclusion that there is no significant association
between long term orientation culture and safety climate of
workers at p<.0.05. The next presentation in Table 2 shows
the Managers correlation between cultural dimensions and
safety climate.
Table 2: Managers Correlation between the Cultural Dimensions and Safety Climate.
Cultural Dimension
Correlation Coeff. (r)
Power Distance
Collectivism
Femininity
Uncertainty Avoidance
Long term orientation
0.91
0.95
0.99
0.9
0.65
Safety Climate
T - test val.
Nature of association
Very high +ve corr.
Very high +ve corr.
Very high +ve corr.
Very high +ve corr.
Moderate +ve corr.
Four the cultural dimension as observed from Table 2 power
distance, collectivism, femininity and uncertainty avoidance
have very high positive correlation with correlation
coefficients (r) of 0.91, 0.95, 0.99 and 0.90 respectively with
safety climate factors. when tested for significance of their
association with safety climate using t‐test statistic at α =
0.05 significance level, all the calculated t-test values
obtained for the four dimensions were greater than the
critical value of t-test at 0.05 significance level. The
following values were obtained: Power distance = 3.802,
collectivism = 5.270; femininity = 12.155; and uncertainty
avoidance = 3.576. These values were greater than critical,
0.05, 3 (3.182). As a result of this, the Null hypothesis (H0)
was rejected. The conclusion therefore was that the
relationships between the four cultural factors and safety
climate are significant at α = 0.05.
However, long term orientation culture factor had a
moderate positive correlation with safety climate with
correlation coefficient (r) of 0.65. When tested further for
the significance of the relationship, the t-test value obtained
(1.482) was less than t- critical value (3.182) at 0.05 (5%)
3.802
5·270
12.155
3.576
1.482
Decision
Reject
Reject
Reject
Reject
Reject
H0
H0
H0
H0
H0
significance level. This however, supports the Null
hypothesis and so justifies the acceptance of H0. The
conclusion was that the relationship between long term
orientation culture and safety climate is not significant at
(p< 0.05).
The results of Tables 1 and 2 show that culture influences
the safety perceptions and attitudes (safety climate) of
construction workers on site. The results also show a strong
positive relationship in all the cultural dimensions except
long term orientation where they show a weak positive and
moderate positive relationships (0.47 and 0.65) respectively
for operatives and mangers. This further shows that these
culture dimensions have significant influence on workers’
safety perceptions and attitudes. However, this is not the
case for long term orientation.
The implications of these results are that:
● Large power distance, weak uncertainty avoidance,
and short term orientation cultures promote unsafe
behaviours, perceptions, and attitudes of
construction workers towards safety on site
How to Cite this Article: Okolie, K. C1, Okoye, P.U. , “Assessment of National Culture Dimensions and Construction Health and Safety Climate in Nigeria,”Science Journal of
Environmental Engineering Research, Volume 2012, Article ID sjeer-167, 6 Pages, 2012. doi: 10.7237/sjeer/167
Science Journal of Environmental Engineering Research(ISSN: 2276-7495)
● Collectivism and femininity promote safe
behaviours, perceptions and attitudes of
construction workers towards safety on site.
Page 5
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5.0 Conclusion
The importance of safety on construction sites and safety of
construction workers can never be over emphasized. This
is because when accidents happen on site, they cause many
human tragedies, de-motivate workers, disrupt site
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Recommendation
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● Adequate and enforceable health and safety regulations
are urgently needed in the Nigerian construction
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should borrow a leaf from South Africa and some
European countries where such laws and regulations
are effectively implemented. The Lagos State
Government of Nigeria has taken a lead in this directed
by enacting laws and regulations relating to health and
safety for the protection of construction workers in the
state;
● There is need for the establishment of Construction
Industry Training Board (CITB) as well as the reestablishment of trade centres in Nigeria. These bodies
should be charged with the task of training, retraining
and providing advisory services to the Nigerian
construction workforce;
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and other sister professional bodies should champion
the establishment of these training institutes and
centres across the nation since the control and
management of workforce on site is in the hands of
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Environmental Engineering Research, Volume 2012, Article ID sjeer-167, 6 Pages, 2012. doi: 10.7237/sjeer/167
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How to Cite this Article: Okolie, K. C1, Okoye, P.U. , “Assessment of National Culture Dimensions and Construction Health and Safety Climate in Nigeria,”Science Journal of
Environmental Engineering Research, Volume 2012, Article ID sjeer-167, 6 Pages, 2012. doi: 10.7237/sjeer/167