This study develops a safety climate (SC) measurement scale for building projects in Pakistan. In addition, it attempts to validate an existing SC scale in the cross-cultural environment of a developing country and highlights the implications of its cross-validation. The SC data collected from 40 under-construction multistorey building projects were split into calibration and validation samples for conducting the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, respectively. This resulted in a 24-item SC scale comprised of four factors: management commitment and employees’ involvement in health and safety (MC&EI); safety enforcement and promotion (SE&P); applicability of safety rules and safe work practices (SR&WP); and safety consciousness and responsibility (SC&R). The factor structure obtained through structural equation modeling (SEM) achieved a desirable goodness-of-fit, composite reliability, and construct validity. The SE&P was discovered as one of the most influential SC factors, whereas SR&WP was detected as the most overlooked factor. A correlation was observed among the error variables of SE&P and SR&WP factors, thus necessitating the development of synergy in the safety enhancement efforts of these two factors. The study has reinforced the body of knowledge by highlighting the consequences of cross-validation in a developing country, and unveiling the deviations in the existing SC factor structure such as the discovery of SE&P as a novel SC factor. The study concludes that existing SC scales cannot be generalized across countries and regions without cultural adjustments. The designed SC scale and the study’s findings would help the key stakeholders to measure the SC and streamline their safety enhancement strategies on building projects in Pakistan.

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is a tool that can be applied to virtually all aspects of business and life, including the construction industry. However, the adoption of GenAI in the construction industry, as with other innovations, is slow, and many of its applications thus far have been rather simplistic or failed to deliver a useful, credible output. There is a limited understanding of how GenAI is adopted in current practice and its potential to improve future practice in architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AECO). Using a systematic literature review approach, this study aims to map the current issues in applying GenAI. The literature review initially identified 1013 peer-reviewed articles from ProQuest, Scopus, and Web of Science. The articles were further filtered based on specific criteria, resulting in 28 articles being retained for thematic analysis. The findings show a cluster of patterns in which GenAI is being adopted and shows promise. The core themes identified are as follows: (1) project brief, (2) architectural design, (3) building information modelling, (4) structural design, (5) construction and demolition, (6) operations, and (7) urban governance. A typical trend noted in the AECO industry has been training AI models that achieve quicker results, improve quality, and use fewer resources.

Purpose: Given a baffling contradiction that the availability of safety knowledge may not necessarily lead to workers' safety behavior, this study aims to develop an exploratory two-step working model of safety knowledge in translating safety climate into safety behavior. In particular, this study highlights the importance of articulating tacit safety knowledge and improving workers' systematic problem solving (SPS) capacity in a favorable safety climate.Design/methodology/approach: This study uses 110 valid responses from Pakistan-based construction workers to test five hypotheses which embody the exploratory two-step working model of safety knowledge. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to analyze the data.Findings: The results of this study support the two-step working mechanism of safety knowledge in translating safety climate into safety behavior. Furthermore, results suggest that safety climate as a job resource facilitates converting construction workers' tacit safety knowledge into explicit safety knowledge (i.e. safety knowledge articulation) and then enabling them to spot non-conformities in safety management practices (i.e. SPS) and consequently to work safely (i.e. safety behavior).Originality/value: The study has both theoretical and practical significance. In theory, it extends organizational learning theory and job demands-resources (JD-R) theory in the construction safety research domain and elaborates on the mediating role of safety knowledge articulation and SPS for the relationship between safety climate and safety behavior. In practice, it highlights the importance of continuous articulation of tacit safety knowledge and accumulation and use of explicit safety knowledge in construction safety management practices.

The construction industry in Hong Kong has adopted relational contracting (RC) as a way forward to address frequent conflicts in construction projects and to promote sustainable development. Despite this effort, adversarial behavior of project team members is still prevalent, stemming from conflicting agendas, which hinders the successful implementation of RC. There is a need to improve collaborative attitudes and behavior among project team members in RC projects, but there is still a lack of understanding of factors that can promote this inter-organizational collaboration. Therefore, using the theory of planned behavior, this research investigates factors that form relational attitudes, collaborative intentions, and collaborative behavior, and their relationships in RC projects in Hong Kong. Quantitative data were collected from experienced practitioners in RC projects and were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results reveal that senior management commitment and relational norms are needed to nurture relational attitudes, which in turn influence the development of collaborative intentions. These intentions can eventually promote collaborative behavior, which is expressed by teamwork, affective trust, and extra-role behavior (striving beyond roles to maintain collaboration). The findings advance knowledge and contribute to practice by providing a structured process to nurture collaboration in RC projects for sustainable development.

Organizational climate is the ascribed psychological meaning and significance associated with the procedures, policies, and practices that are recognized and rewarded in the workplace and, hence, mediate the effects of environmental stimuli on individuals’ responses. Safety climate is a specific organizational climate, i.e., organizational climate for safety. Previous research claimed that organizational climate provides a foundation for safety climate, but without elaboration on the foundational mechanisms. This paper attempts to fill this knowledge gap. As organizational climate is a multi-dimensional phenomenon, this paper chooses two dimensions: perceived organizational support (POS) and participative decision making (PaDM). Drawing on an interactive approach to forming climate perceptions, this paper introduces two interactive constructs—leader–member exchange (LMX) and team-member exchange (TMX)—and establishes a multiple mediation model depicting the foundational effect of organizational climate on safety climate. A random sample of 292 Hong Kong-based construction personnel is used to validate the model. The results show that both POS and PaDM are positively associated with perceived safety climate (β₁ = 0.175, p < 0.01; β₂ = 0.502, p < 0.005), both LMX and TMX fully mediate the effect of PaDM on safety climate (effect sizes are 0.146 and 0.076, respectively), and only LMX partially mediates the effect of POS on safety climate (effect size is 0.131). This study sheds light on the foundational effects of organizational climate on safety climate. POS can improve the quality of reciprocal exchange about safety matters between construction personnel and their supervisors and hence raise construction personnel’s awareness of the priority of safety. PaDM can improve the quality of reciprocal exchange about safety matters vertically and horizontally and hence have construction personnel aware of the importance of safety. In practice, this paper suggests that project managers recognize and reward construction personnel’s contributions in a timely manner, genuinely care about their well-being, and take their suggestions seriously in making decisions. In this way, the quality of both vertical and horizontal exchange about safety matters improves, and a sound and positive safety climate ensues.