Perceived risk, safety climate and safety behavior on Moroccan construction sites

In Morocco, the construction sector is very dynamic economically, but suffers from weak safety performance. The few available statistics about the rates of occupational injuries and fatalities point to an alarming situation. However, root causes are yet to be identified. To fill this gap in knowledge, we conducted this study using an exploratory approach. Literature review, onsite observations and a survey were conducted to gather information about safety and risk aspects on construction sites. We conducted a series of correlation tests and a regression analysis using IBM SPSS version 20. The results showed that: (a) there is a relatively strong risk perception bias among workers, with an underestimation of risk severity and occurrence probability; (b) risk perception was not found to predict safety behavior; (c) a positive safety climate seems to neutralize the negative impact that high risk tolerance had on safety behavior.