Den svenska byggindustrin har gjort stora satsningar de senaste åren för att öka medvetenheten om vikten av att arbeta säkert. En del i denna satsning är att Byggföretagen (före detta Sveriges Byggindustrier) har byggt en säkerhetspark, dvs. en anläggning där de som arbetar inom industrin utbildas om säkerhet och får möjlighet att gemensamt reflektera över säkerhetsrelaterade frågor.

Vår forskargrupp vid Luleå tekniska universitet, har följt parkens etablering med syfte att undersöka hur frågor rörande säkerhetskultur kan och har integrerats i säkerhetsparkens aktiviteter. Projektet finns redovisat i tre rapporter. Den första är en kartläggning av internationell forskning inom området säkerhetskultur, säkerhetsarbete och säkerhetsträning och finns redovisad i Delrapport 1: Säkerhetskulturforskning inom byggindustrin (Berglund et al, 2020). Den andra redovisar en kartläggning och karaktärisering av vilka säkerhetsinitiativ och säkerhetskulturer som finns hos Sveriges byggindustriers medlemsföretag. Den studien har presenterats i Delrapport 2: Säkerhetsinitiativ och säkerhetskultur i svensk byggindustri (Berglund et al, 2021). 

I denna tredje rapport som vi kallar Resultat och rekommendationer, presenterar vi en samlad analys av parkens verksamhet och avslutar med ett antal förslag till hur säkerhetsparken kan utvecklas vidare. 

I rapporten kan vi konstatera att säkerhetsparken finns på plats och har verkat i drygt tre år. Den består av ett stort antal stationer eller scenarion där ett antal arbetsområden, arbetssituationer och arbetsmoment speglas. Ett besök inleds inomhus med en introduktion där det besökande företaget eller skolan ges en inledande beskrivning av parkens innehåll och syfte och där ett flertal frågeställningar introduceras och diskuteras. Därefter fortsätter besöket utomhus genom att man besöker ett antal stationer som är utformade enligt den pedagogiska principen ”se, höra, göra och reflektera”. Valet av stationer som besöks görs i samråd med handledare och med det besökande företaget. Dagen avslutas på samma sätt som den inleddes, inomhus, med reflektioner om lärdomar att ta med sig hem till det egna företaget. Parken fungerar också som en display av aktuell utveckling inom branschen, inte minst när det gäller nya verktyg, utrustning, material, arbetsmoment och liknande, allt med ett fokus på förbättrad arbetsmiljö och säkerhet. Säkerhetsparken besöks idag främst av byggföretag och byggelever men även av andra representanter från andra branscher. Vi har intervjuat nyckelpersoner med anknytning till parken och omdömen om parken och besöket har i huvudsak varit goda. Vår rapport avslutas med elva utvecklingsområden som vi tror kan bidra till att göra en bra verksamhet vid säkerhetsparken ännu bättre.

1. Problematisera rådande säkerhetskulturer på fler ställen, kanske stationer eller i fler moment i anläggningen.

2. Den pedagogiska modellen är bra och kan utnyttjas på fler ställen i anläggningen.

3. Alla besök bör ha en tydlig och specifik företagsprofilering.

4. Alla besökare ska ha en arbetsuppgift när de återvänder till företaget.

5. Stationerna måste vara aktuella och spegla realistiska situationer.

6. Säkerhetsparken bör vara ett centrum för lärande, utveckling och innovation.

7. Säkerhetsparken kan vara ett skyltfönster för ny teknik och bra utrustning.

8. Jämställdhetsfrågor bör integreras i säkerhetsparkens arbete.

9. Ledningens betydelse för säkerhetskultur bör betonas.

10.Säkerhetsparken kan bli en resurs för utbildning av utländsk arbetskraft.

11.Säkerhetsparken bör dokumentera sina erfarenheter.

The Swedish construction industry has made major investments in recent years to raise awareness of the importance of working safely. Part of this effort is a safety park built by the Swedish Construction Federation and a number of construction companies, i.e. a facility where those who work in the industry are educated about safety and given the opportunity to jointly reflect on safety-related issues.

Our research group at Luleå University of Technology has followed the park's establishment with the aim of investigating how issues concerning safety culture can and has been integrated into the safety park's activities. The project has been described in three reports. The first is a survey of international research in the field of safety culture, safety work and safety training (see “Safety culture research in the construction industry”, Berglund et al, 2020). The second report presents a survey and characterization of the safety initiatives and safety cultures that exist in Swedish construction companies (see “Safety initiatives and safety culture in the Swedish construction industry”, Berglund et al, 2021). In this third report, which we call Results and recommendations, we present an overall analysis of the park's activities and conclude with a number of proposals for how the safety park can be further developed. 

In the report we can conclude that the safety park is in place and has been operating for just over three years. The park consists of a large number of stations or scenarios in which different situations and work moments are reflected. A visit to the park begins indoors with an introduction where the visiting company is given an initial description of the park's content and purpose, and a number of issues are introduced and discussed. After that, the visit continues outdoors by visiting a selection of stations that are designed according to the park’s educational principle of "see, hear, do and reflect". The choice of stations visited is made in consultation with the supervisor and with the visiting company. The day ends in the same way as it began, indoors, with reflections on lessons learned, and discussions about what the participants should take home to their own company. The park also serves as a display of current developments in the industry, not least in terms of new tools, equipment and materials, all with a focus on improved work environment and safety. The safety park is mainly visited by construction companies and construction students, but also by representatives from other industries. We have interviewed key individuals in the construction industry about the park and most of them testify that their visit was rewarding. Our report concludes with eleven development areas that we believe can help make the already good operations at the safety park even better.

1. Problematize prevailing safety cultures at more stations in the park.

2. The educational model is good and can be utilized in more stations.

3. All visits should have a clear and specific company profile.

4. All visitors should have a task to perform when returning to the company.

5. Stations must be up-to-date and reflect realistic situations.

6. The safety park should be a centre for learning, development and innovation.

7. The safety park can be a showroom for new technology and good equipment.

8. Gender issues should be integrated into the work of the security park.

9. The importance of management for safety culture should be emphasized more.

10.The safety park can become a resource for training foreign workers.

11. The safety park should follow up and document their experiences.

BACKGROUND: Despite numerous regulatory initiatives to improve health and safety in the construction industry, it still ranks as one of the most accident-prone industries worldwide. A dedicated focus on safety culture has been suggested as a complement to laws, regulations and management systems.

OBJECTIVE: This article explores safety culture research conducted in the construction industry, with the aim to provide insight into the specific themes that tend to be in focus as well as what theoretical and methodological approaches that tend to be favored.

METHODS: Searches in scientific databases were conducted twice. In a first attempt, searches resulted in 54 hits but only two articles fit the scope of the study. A revision of the search phrase resulted in 124 hits. Ultimately, 17 articles fit the scope of the study and were included. The content of the articles was analyzed and sorted thematically.

RESULTS: The results show that four themes are prevalent in the existing literature: 1) unique challenges entail a need for situated applications, 2) models developed to operationalize safety culture, 3) measuring safety culture, and 4) safety management and leadership as key factors.

CONCLUSION:Although research focusing on the construction industry has come to favor certain study designs and definitions of safety culture, further research may be enriched by broadening the theoretical and methodological perspectives. Specifically, researchers should conduct more in-depth qualitative studies that take the complexity of the industry into account, including the interpersonal relations between the actors involved.

The problem of occupational accidents in the construction industry has necessitated a focus on proactive measures such as safety management programs. An example of this is safety parks, i.e. facilities where employees and managers from different construction companies can participate in site-specific activities and train in safety-related matters in a realistic context. Two specific focus areas are often present within these types of safety management programs: hands-on safety training and safety culture development as being within the purview of management. The purpose of this article is to investigate the developers’ intentions with the park in relation to safety culture development. Twenty interviews were conducted with experts in the area of health and safety. Results indicate that the safety park can contribute as a mirror for the companies own operations, with new information and knowledge of how work can be performed with safety being prioritized, to developing communication regarding safety-related matters, and finally the stations at the park may initiate a translation process as to how the lessons learned at the park can be applied to the participants’ own workplaces. All in all, the activities at the park can be said to be normative in nature, i.e. the developers seemingly have a desire to steer the safety culture development in a certain direction. There is a need for further research focusing on the concept of safety culture in these types of programs and, more broadly, in relation to its intended industry-wide effects.

The EU directive 92/57/EEC focuses on ensuring that health and safety-related matters are taken into consideration during every stage of construction-related work and has been introduced into the regulations of the member countries. In 2006, Sweden was tasked by the European Commission to clarify its implementation of the directive, including which management roles and responsibilities were to come into effect during both the planning and eventual execution of construction work—changes that ultimately were introduced into the national regulations in 2009. Focusing on the accident trends in the construction industry in the years immediately following these regulatory changes, we find that the new management roles and responsibilities had no apparent effect on the accident rates. Furthermore, we argue that there is a need to broaden the analysis regarding the implementation of the EU directive 92/57/EEC to also include nation-specific changes to health and safety management and policy. These qualitative studies should also include a dedicated focus on how changes to management structures and processes may affect the prevalence of occupational diseases specifically.

The purpose of this study is to anazlye accidents occurring in the Swedish construction industry focusing specifically on the situation in the individual trades. The article includes all occupational accidents with at least one day of absence from work that were reported to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency for the year of 2016. The results, focusing on accident cause, injured body parts, as well as accidents per weekday, month and age, show that although the trades share commonalities regarding occupational accidents a number of trade-specific problem areas stand out. With this in mind, conclusions are drawn regarding the situation in each respective trade and suggestions are made for future studies focusing on accidents in construction industry trades.

Denna rapport är en kunskapsöversikt som beskriver internationell forskning om säkerhetskultur och säkerhetsarbete i byggindustrin. I rapporten diskuteras inledningsvis hur säkerhetskultur kan förstås i relation till organisationskultur och att mycket av de distinktioner som görs inom säkerhetskulturforskningen inom byggbranschen är avhängig synen på kulturbegreppet. I den forskning som studerats i denna litteraturöversikt är det vanligt med en mer normativ ansats, dvs., den är inte neutral utan den syftar till säkerhet. Det verkar inte vara lika vanligt med säkerhetskultur-forskning som i grunden har en tolkande ansats och som ställer sig mer neutral till huruvida kulturen i sig alltid leder till en högre grad av säkerhet. Med en sådan ansats kan dock säkerhetskulturens olika delar i högre grad analyseras utan att vara upptagen med dess koppling till en normativ syn på säkerhetskultur. Med utgångpunkt i den tidigare forskningen ger vi slutligen förslag på ett antal aktiviteter som skulle kunna införlivas i säkerhetsparken som ett sätt att stärka dess säkerhetsfrämjande arbete.

This report is a literature review of international research focusing on safety culture and safety management practices in the construction industry. More specifically, we discuss how the term “safety culture” can be understood in relation to the broader term “organizational culture” and that there is an intimate connection between the two. Furthermore, we conclude that much of the research takes a normative approach when studying safety culture in the sense of assuming that culture has a certain direction, i.e. that it aims at safety. It is less common that researchers take an interpretative perspective on safety culture where culture, in itself, is viewed as a complex phenomenon that cannot necessarily be controlled or managed in a certain direction. We argue that further studies in the field should also prioritize interpretative perspectives since it would contribute to a more nuanced view on safety culture, e.g., through qualitative methodological approaches such as ethnography. Finally, based on the results of previous research, we suggest a number of activities that can be introduced to the safety training park outside of Arlanda, Stockholm, as a way of strengthening their proactive safety work.

BACKGROUND

The paper is a research review focusing on occupational safety in the construction industry.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose is to present research that highlights the areas of occupational safety and risks and to identify areas where research is lacking.

METHODS

326 articles from scientific journals, mainly covering the construction industry in Europe, Canada, USA, Australia and Japan have been studied. The findings are presented under 11 categories: accident statistics; individual factors; legislation and regulations; ethical considerations; risk management; leadership, management, organization; competence; safety design; cost-benefit calculations; programs and models; and technical solutions.

RESULTS

The research is dominated by initiatives from researchers and government authorities, while the construction industry only appears as the object for the research. There is a scarcity of research on integrated systems encompassing subcontractors, as well as a lack of research with sociological perspectives on accidents. Furthermore, only a few studies have applied a gender perspective on safety in construction, i.e. there is a need of further research in this particular area.

CONCLUSIONS

A range of initiatives have been taken to increase safety in the construction industry and the initiatives are mainly reported to be successful. There are some cultural differences, but basically researchers present similar results regardless of country.

Svensk byggindustri betraktas internationellt sett i många avseenden som ett föredöme och ett framgångsexempel när det gäller arbetsmiljö och arbetsförhållanden. Trots det är branschen fortfarande drabbad av en stor andel allvarliga arbetsplatsolyckor som i flera fall per år leder till att den drabbade omkommer. Huvudsyftet med denna studie är att belysa bakomliggande orsaker till allvarliga arbetsolyckor inom branschen.

Studien bygger i huvudsak på två genomförda enkätundersökningar. Den första enkätundersökningen, som genomfördes under hösten 2011 och våren 2012, vände sig till medarbetare inom svensk byggindustri som någon gång under åren 2005, 2007, 2009 eller 2011 råkat ut för en allvarlig arbetsolycka. Den andra enkätundersökningen genomfördes under hösten 2013 i syfte att nå en referensgrupp av byggnadsarbetare som inte råkat ut för allvarliga arbetsplatsolyckor. Enkätundersökningarna föregicks av intervjuer med branschrepresentanter som också varit delaktiga i utformandet av enkäterna. Det insamlade datamaterialet har bearbetats och analyserats med hjälp av statistikprogrammet SPSS. Därefter har en kompletterande litteraturstudie genomförts i syfte att, där det varit möjligt, också belysa studiens resultat i en internationell kontext och visa på möjliga vägar för en fortsatt utveckling mot säkrare arbetsplatser.

Studiens resultat ger en komplex bild av bakomliggande orsaker till allvarliga arbetsolyckor inom branschen. Personfaktorer som ålder och attityd och inställning till säkerhet påverkar riskerna liksom den säkerhetskultur som präglar arbetsplatsen. Det finns också ett klart samband mellan stress och allvarliga olycksfall. Arbetsledningen måste gå i bräschen och ge säkerhetsfrågorna högsta prioritet. Ett väl fungerande förebyggande arbete för hälsa och säkerhet är starkt kopplat till god planering av arbetet på arbetsplatsen i övrigt och olycksfallsriskerna.