Effect of Management Commitment on Construction Project Safety Resilience: Safety Competence and Working Conditions as the Mediators

The construction industry is currently facing the problem of safety plateau in many countries or regions. The high incidents of safety accidents have a serious impact on economic development and workers’ health. Further, under a complex and changeable environment, enhancing safety resilience is vital to deal with unknown risks for construction projects from a dynamic perspective. However, few studies empirically assessed the influence pathways of management commitment on project safety resilience, especially in the context of the construction industry, thereby reducing its potential to enhance construction safety. To help fill this gap, this study explored the relationship between perceived management commitment to safety (PMCS) and construction project safety resilience (CPSR), and tested the mediating roles of personal safety competence (PSC) and physical working conditions (PWCs). Six hundred and sixteen valid survey responses collected from five construction sites in China were used to assess the theoretical model with structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques. The results showed that: (1) PMCS was positively associated with PSC and PWC, and indirectly affected CPSR through three pathways (i.e., PMCS-PSC-CPSR, PMCS-PWC-CPSR, and PMCS-PSC-PWC-CPSR); (2) PSC directly impacted PWC and CPSR, and mediated the PMCS-CPSR relationship; (3) PWC directly impacted CPSR, and mediated the PMCS-CPSR and PSC-CPSR relationships; (4) the total effects of PWC, PSC, and PMCS on CPSR were 0.549, 0.467, and 0.455, respectively. The results indicate that PMCS plays a cascading role on CPSR, and PSC and PWC mediate the PMCS-CPSR relationship. The findings illustrate the cross-level PMCS-CPSR interrelationship, and remind the safety management personnel to take a pragmatic approach and to initiate a resilient safety system integrating managerial, personal, and environmental factors, thereby fostering a stronger safety resilience for construction projects.