The moderating effect of social support on the relationship between safety climate and safety behaviour: a study of the Jeddah construction industry

Organizational injuries and accident has become a major issue in many countries especially among foreign workers in the construction sector. Investigating safety behaviour of foreign workers in the construction sectors has therefore become priority. This study aims to examine safety behaviour of foreign workers in the Jeddah construction industry by examining the direct relationships between safety climate (management commitment, priority of safety, safety communication and feedback, safety rule and procedures, safety training, worker's involvement in safety and work pressure) and safety behaviour (safety compliance and safety participation). In addition, social support was tested as moderator on these relationships. Partial Least Square Techniques 2.0 (PLS) approach was used to test the hypotheses. Specifically, management commitment, safety rules and procedures, safety training and worker‘s involvement in safety significantly predicts safety compliance. With respect to safety participation, the results showed that management commitment, safety communication, safety rules and procedures and worker‘s involvement significantly predicts safety participation. Results for the moderation effects of social support revealed that the relationship between management commitment and safety compliance, safety training and safety compliance and work pressure and safety compliance were influenced by social support. The results also revealed that social support significantly moderated the relationship between safety communication and safety participation and the relationship between work pressure and safety participation. The finding in this study provides empirical support of social support as moderator and contributes to the role of social exchange theory and can assist construction practitioners in Saudi Arabia on how to improve construction workers safety behaviour. Finally, this study discusses theoretical and practical implications, as well as recommendations for future research.