From Knowledge to Practice: Uncovering the Safety Behavior Gap among Construction Workers Using Structural Equation Modeling (Empirical Evidence from Ongoing Construction Projects in South Sulawesi, Indonesia)

Andi Arifah Pasri; Nurlita Pertiwi; Gufran Darma Dirawan

From Knowledge to Practice: Uncovering the Safety Behavior Gap among Construction Workers Using Structural Equation Modeling (Empirical Evidence from Ongoing Construction Projects in South Sulawesi, Indonesia)

Author(s)	Mrs. Andi Arifah Pasri, Prof. Dr. Nurlita Pertiwi, Prof. Dr. Gufran Darma Dirawan
Country	Indonesia
Abstract	Construction safety programs often assume that better knowledge, positive attitudes, supportive leadership, and formal safety systems will lead to safer behavior. However, this transformation does not always occur automatically. This study analyzes the gap between workers’ cognitive and organizational safety conditions and their actual behavior, conceptualized as the safety behavior gap. A cross-sectional survey of 250 workers from active construction projects in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, was analyzed using structural equation modeling. The model integrated Occupational Safety Knowledge, Attitudes toward Occupational Safety, Risk Perception, Safety Leadership, Safety Culture, Safety Climate, Safety Motivation, and Safety Behavior, represented by Safety Compliance and Safety Participation. The measurement model demonstrated adequate convergent validity and composite reliability. The structural model explained 70.3% of the variance in Safety Behavior. Occupational Safety Knowledge (β = 0.172; p = 0.003), Safety Climate (β = 0.369; p = 0.001), and Safety Motivation (β = 0.365; p < 0.001) had significant direct effects on Safety Behavior, whereas Attitudes, Risk Perception, Safety Leadership, and Safety Culture did not have significant direct effects. Risk Perception indirectly affected behavior through Safety Motivation (β = 0.082; p = 0.006). Safety Culture influenced behavior through Safety Climate (β = 0.208; p = 0.002), while the sequential pathway from Safety Leadership through Safety Culture, Safety Climate, and Safety Motivation to Safety Behavior was also significant (β = 0.033; p = 0.003). Descriptively, 69% of respondents exhibited low or very low Safety Behavior despite relatively positive levels of several antecedent factors. These findings indicate that construction safety is not merely a matter of knowing how to work safely, but also of transforming knowledge, awareness, organizational signals, and motivation into consistent action. The safety behavior gap is therefore positioned as an empirical-conceptual lens for understanding the knowing-doing discontinuity in construction safety.
Keywords	Construction safety; safety behavior gap; safety compliance; safety participation; safety climate; safety motivation; structural equation modeling
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On	2026-10-06

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From Knowledge to Practice: Uncovering the Safety Behavior Gap among Construction Workers Using Structural Equation Modeling (Empirical Evidence from Ongoing Construction Projects in South Sulawesi, Indonesia)

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