The development of safety compliance framework for foreign labour in the Malaysian construction industry / Azreen Ariff Zulkeflee

The influx of foreign labourers in the Malaysian construction industry can be attributed to the reluctance of the local labourers to participate in demanding, strenuous, and hazardous working conditions. The ensuing variations in beliefs and safety practices among foreign labourers have led to unsatisfactory work, safety non-compliance, and a surge in reported accident cases by the Department of Operational Safety and Health annually. Previous research has predominantly approached these issues from a managerial perspective, neglecting the operational level. In addition, there is no specific framework that can assist foreign labourers in reviewing their capability requirements to improve themselves in conforming to proper safety practices in the workplace. This study aims to address this gap by developing a safety compliance framework for foreign labourers in the Malaysian construction industry. The objectives are to identify the factors of reluctance to practice safety among foreign labourers, determine the key attributes required by foreign labourers in practising safety in construction sites and develop a framework of safety compliances among foreign labourers. The study employs a comprehensive multiple holistic-case studies methodology for data collection, with cases selected from three distinct construction sectors namely: (1) Construction of buildings with 10-unit cases, (2) Construction of Infrastructure with 10unit cases and (3) Industrial Manufacturing with 10-unit cases. Each unit case comprises one respondent who works closely with foreign labourers at the operational level to share their views, experience, and perspective toward this study. Thematic analysis is utilized to scrutinize gathered data, extracting codes to generate sub-themes and main themes. The findings reveal a spectrum of factors of reluctance to practice safety among foreign labourers, including misconceptions, emotional distraction, incompetence, cultural diversity, bewilderment, oversight, carelessness, ignorance, overconfidence, and censure. The key attributes to enhance safety compliance among foreign labourers include safety welfare, safety work routines, supervision execution, emotional evoke, effective communication, coherent work conditions, leaders as examples, and positive influence. Based on existing behavioural theory, the Safety Compliance Framework for Foreign Labour in Malaysian Construction Industry has been developed. This research provides insights into the factors that affect foreign labourers' safety compliance and highlights the enabling factors required to enhance their compliance. The framework can guide and assist the industry players in developing policies and practices to improve the safety culture in the Malaysian construction industry.