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• Organisational factors contribute to psychological ill-health of wildland firefighters. • Multiple psychosocial risk factors co-exist and interact in the work environment. • Practical solutions designed by firefighters can reduce exposure to work stress. A qualitative study of Australian wildland firefighters employed by a state government agency was undertaken to: (i) explore the perceived impact of work-related stress factors on participants' psychological health; and (ii) identify organisational strategies or approaches that firefighters believe could help to protect or improve their psychological health. Twenty-five participants took part in the first round of interviews and 24 participants took part in the second round of interviews. A theoretical model of work-related determinants of psychological health developed by Harvey et al. (2017) was used to inform the thematic coding of interview data. Participants reported a wide variety of work-related stressors that they believe affect their psychological wellbeing. All of the stressors identified by Harvey et al. (2017) were evident in the firefighters' descriptions of work characteristics and experiences that they believe affect their psychological health, including job insecurity, high job demands, low job control, low social support, work-family conflict and issues related to recognition and reward. However, the wildland firefighters also identified exposure to dangerous work, limited training opportunities, inconsistent application of organisational policies and procedures and administrative workload and demands associated with the community interface as affecting their psychological health. The findings indicate that wildland firefighters perceive no single work-related factor as contributing to psychological ill-health. Rather, the firefighters indicated that their psychological health is affected by the experience of multiple psychosocial risk factors that co-exist and interact with one another in the work environment. Firefighters also identified a wide variety of organisational strategies that they believe could reduce the risk of psychological ill-health associated with work stress. Participants' suggestions provide practical, actionable solutions with the potential to reduce exposure to stressors in the organisational work environment and better protect wildland firefighters against harm to their psychological health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The development of a construction frontline H&S leadership maturity model. • Six areas emerged as important for H&S leadership at the frontline. • Construction frontline leaders are in a multi-levelled, fragmented and complex context. • A more holistic view of H&S leadership, than previous single-level studies. • Complimentary research approaches are encouraged, alongside psychological studies. Construction frontline leaders have a crucial role in ensuring safe and healthy work practices occur where risks of accidents are highest. To create a framework for understanding and monitoring where improvements can be made, a frontline health and safety (H&S) leadership maturity model was developed. The research methods involved conducting over 100 h of participant observation at four construction sites, followed by conducting four one-hour focus groups at these sites, which were all in Australia. Six key areas in which frontline leadership behaviour can have a H&S impact emerged from the data: the foreman and subcontractor supervisor relationship; the leadership styles of the foreman and supervisor; the foreman and workers relationship; the subcontractor supervisor-to-supervisor relationship; the workgroup communication; and the relationship between the frontline leaders and H&S advisors. The three-stage model is the first known construction frontline H&S leadership maturity model, which can be used as a practical tool for industry, as well as providing theoretical insights into the ways in which frontline leaders' influence H&S performance at the 'sharp end' of operations within construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of occupational health and safety (OHS) training programs is dependent on the extent to which workers transfer OHS knowledge, skills and abilities acquired from OHS training into post-training workplace performance. However, the lack of training transfer has long been a critical problem in the construction industry. As an attempt to gain a better understanding of the transfer of training, this research investigated factors affecting construction workers' OHS training transfer intention. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data from Australian construction workers, and 295 valid responses were obtained. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to test the model of transfer intention adapted from the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Multigroup analysis was conducted to identify the similarities and differences in terms of factors affecting transfer intention among managerial/professional and non-managerial/manual construction workers. The research found that the TPB can be used to explain the transfer intention of OHS training among construction workers. Perceived behavioural control was found to be an antecedent of the intention to transfer among both groups of workers. However, attitudes only predicted transfer intention among managerial/professional workers, while subjective norms only predicted transfer intention among non-managerial/manual construction workers. The study provided a good understanding of the formation of transfer intention among managerial/professional and non-managerial/manual construction workers and identified critical factors influencing the transfer intention of these two groups. This new knowledge is useful for training providers and construction organisations to develop targeted strategies to increase the transfer of OHS skills and knowledge among construction workers and improve the effectiveness of OHS training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safety performance data collected over a five year period, at a large Australian infrastructure project was analysed. The analysis examined the temporal relationships between the safety performance indicators measured at the project, including traditional lagging indicators, as well as expected leading indicators. The purpose of the research was to uncover time dependent relationships and explore causal relationships between indicators. The analysis revealed complex interactions between safety indicators over time. Notably, the expected leading indicators behaved as both leading and lagging indicators in relation to the project total recordable injury frequency rate. This finding suggested a cyclical relationship between management actions relating to safety and the rate of safety incidents. This cyclical relationship is unlikely to produce long term sustained improvement in safety performance. The expected leading indicators of safety were also inter-related with one another in complex ways. The results indicate that assumptions underpinning the use of leading indicators should be reconsidered. In particular, the findings challenge the assumption that leading indicators measured at one point in time can predict safety outcomes at a subsequent point in time. The collection and use of different types of safety indicator data should be reconsidered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Factors contributing to construction crane safety incidents were explored using qualitative methods. • Contributing factors were identified at different levels within the construction industry work system. • Immediate factors were linked to issues in the regulatory, industrial and organisational environment. Crane safety incidents in the construction industry are persistent and have serious consequences. The research explored causal and contributing factors to crane safety incidents in the Australian construction industry. Key informants were purposefully selected because of their industry experience and knowledge of crane operations in the Australian construction industry. Informants participated in focus groups or interviews, in which the factors that cause or contribute to crane safety incidents in construction were explored. Data was systematically analysed using the framework method of qualitative data analysis. A total of 77 causal/contributing factors were identified in the analysis, which were found to operate at multiple levels within the work system relating to the use of cranes in the construction industry. The analysis also revealed that these factors interact with each other in complex ways within and between levels in the work system. Understanding these interactions can inform the selection and implementation of 'upstream' prevention measures for crane safety incident in the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safety management in construction is an integral effort and its success requires inputs from all stakeholders across design and construction phases. Effective risk mitigation relies on the concordance of all stakeholders’ risk perceptions. Many researchers have noticed the discordance of risk perceptions among critical stakeholders in safe construction work, however few have provided quantifiable evidence describing them. In an effort to fill this perception gap, this research performs an experiment that investigates stakeholder perceptions of risk in construction. Data analysis confirms the existence of such discordance, and indicates a trend in risk likelihood estimation. With risk perceptions from low to high, the stakeholders are architects, contractors/safety professionals, and engineers. Including prior studies, results also suggest that designers have improved their knowledge in building construction safety, but compared to builders they present more difficultly in reaching a consensus of perception. Findings of this research are intended to be used by risk management and decision makers to reassess stakeholders’ varying judgments when considering injury prevention and hazard assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]