Construction safety through housekeeping: the Hawthorne effect

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Aboagye-Nimo, E ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7651-744X and Emuze, F, 2017. Construction safety through housekeeping: the Hawthorne effect. Journal of Construction Project Management and Innovation, 7 (2), pp. 2027-2038. ISSN 2223-7852

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Abstract

Clean and tidy sites have often been associated with positive safety cultures in construction. Poor housekeeping can result in the creation of additional hazards and dangers in the form of protruding objects which may also be sharp, and increase in situations that can lead to slips, trips and falls on sites. They also create uneven ground levels, debris, and muddy conditions, which can all lead to an increase in accidents. Housekeeping also contributes to projects being finished in a timely manner due to the fewer distractions created by the chaos. However, maintaining good housekeeping practices on site have been known to be challenging due to the rapid and complex nature of construction projects. In a research that was initiated to explore the question of 'why is housekeeping a continuing challenge in Lesotho construction?', the final outcome of site visits and observations revealed the classic phenomenon of the Hawthorne effect. Without deliberate or intentional 'interventionary' measures or demand for regulatory adherence, subsequent visits revealed a transformation in site practices specifically on housekeeping. The Hawthorne effect refers to the alteration of behaviour by the subjects of a study due to their awareness of being observed. This effect does not necessarily refer to positive or negative outcome. In this paper, the transformation that occurred with regard to the workers' practices is discussed critically in the context of this phenomenon. A key outcome of this discussion is whether housekeeping can be encouraged or improved using the notion of being observed. Finally, the ethical stance of carrying out overt or covert observations is deliberated.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Construction Project Management and Innovation
Creators:	Aboagye-Nimo, E. and Emuze, F.
Publisher:	University of Johannesburg
Date:	1 December 2017
Volume:	7
Number:	2
ISSN:	2223-7852
Divisions:	Schools > School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	24 Jul 2019 13:32
Last Modified:	24 Jul 2019 13:32
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/37139