Communication of Safety-related Information in Construction

In the attempt to improve the performance of construction firms, one of the most important areas for attention is that of safety. According to a previous research on safety practice in Hong Kong (Wong 2002), there are 5 major factors affecting safety on sites, namely Communication, Safety Committee, Safety Training, Practice & Procedure, and Participation & Consultation. Wong showed that Communication, which is subtle, pervasive and for which not much study has been done before, holds the key for preventing safety hazards. Thus Communication can prevent problems and is crucial between main contractors and sub-contractors, the focus of this study. In this context, the paper reports on a stage of the study which aims to find out the factors that affect communication and thus identify areas for improvement.