article · Engineering Construction & Architectural Management
Rapid expansion in the construction sector highlights the importance of managing occupational health and safety. An investigation involving 265 construction workers at a major site in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, evaluated how emotional intelligence affects stress levels and safety practices. Data were gathered through structured questionnaires assessing emotional intelligence and workplace stress, alongside interviews with site managers and supervisors regarding worker safety compliance. The analysis shows that higher emotional intelligence significantly reduces workplace stress and enhances safe working practices among construction workers. In contrast, elevated occupational stress negatively affects safety compliance, showing that mitigating stress directly supports safer site behaviour. These insights informed a recommended seven-point therapeutic framework focused on emotional intelligence to support worker safety, reduce site accidents, and enhance organizational productivity.
Construction sites present severe physical hazards where stress can lead to lapses in safety. Understanding that emotional intelligence helps workers manage stress and follow safety rules allows construction firms to adopt targeted behavioural interventions. Cultivating emotional intelligence can lower accident rates, protect worker wellbeing, and raise overall operational productivity.
The findings can be applied by construction managers, site supervisors, and corporate safety trainers seeking to reduce workplace accidents. The work points towards training interventions and a seven-point behavioural framework, representing early-stage applied research that could be developed into workplace assessment tools or human resource development programmes for construction firms.
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Purpose In a country like Saudi Arabia, where the construction industry is witnessing an impressive growth in the post-oil era, it is important to examine the occupational health and safety behaviors of construction workers (CWs). Design/methodology/approach The present study aims to investigate the impact of emotional intelligence (EI) on workers' stress and safety behaviors. Data were collected from CWs ( n = 265) at a major construction site in the city of Jeddah. Two questionnaires comprising 25 and 32 questions were used to measure their EI and stress levels, respectively. Furthermore, structured interviews were conducted with the managers and supervisors to inquire about the safety behavior of their respective workers. Descriptive statistics, simple and companion regression were used for data analysis. Findings The findings indicate that EI plays an important role to enhance the safety behaviors of the CWs besides reducing their workplace stresses. Furthermore, workers' stress levels are found to negatively impact their safety behaviors, indicating that any reduction in occupational stress can reciprocally enhance their safety compliance. The findings are further discussed with the concerned stakeholders to recommend a seven-point therapeutic role of EI for the safety of CWs. Originality/value Results of the study can be used by managers and supervisors of the Saudi construction industry to reduce workplace accidents and improve the productivity of their organizations.
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DOI: 10.1108/ecam-06-2021-0481
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