What is it about?
This study brings together evidence from existing research to examine how cultural diversity influences construction safety. The findings are clear: differences in language, values, beliefs, and behavioural norms directly affect both productivity and health and safety outcomes. But the message is not one of inevitability. Construction organisations that recognise and respect cultural differences perform better. Inclusive workplaces where communication is adapted, diversity is valued, and workers feel respected develop stronger safety cultures and achieve better safety outcomes. Ultimately, safety on construction sites is not just about rules, equipment, or procedures. It is about people being understood. When cultural diversity is managed with care and respect, it can save lives.
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Why is it important?
On construction sites, a single misunderstanding can cost a life. When language, culture, and beliefs divide workers, safety warnings can go unheard and risks multiply. Recognising and respecting cultural differences is not kindness alone; it is protection. Inclusion builds trust, clarity, and safer workplaces for everyone.
Perspectives
Today’s construction sites are among the most culturally diverse workplaces in the world. Workers arrive with different languages, beliefs, norms, and ways of understanding authority and risk. Often, minority groups cluster in specific trades, creating invisible cultural and linguistic boundaries within the same worksite. Though everyone may share the same physical space, they do not always share the same understanding of safety.
Dr. Olubimbola Oladimeji
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Cultural Diversity in Construction Health and Safety: A Systematic Review, January 2025, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-08224-4_54.
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