Occupational health and safety of multinational construction companies through evaluation of corporate social responsibility reports

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this paper is to examine Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) behavior in the construction industry through the assessment of Corporate Social Responsibility reports. The level of accident rates in the construction industry place OHS issues at the heart of their strategic management.

Method: The assessment of OHS issues was made by drawing appropriate data from the Corporate Social Responsibility reports of 19 multinational construction companies published on a voluntary basis.

Results: The findings show a low response rate by the companies sampled to the requirements of stakeholders for responsible organizational behavior and accountability for their consequences. Most of the companies sampled have only focused on a small number of OHS issues to assure the transparency of the information published such as OHS governance, accident and illness rates, training hours, third party assurance, and membership of externally developed OHS charters. Similarly, other important OHS issues seem to be less covered by the companies sampled such as the representation of total workforce in OHS committees, the percentage of high risk occupations, and OHS practices in the supply chain.

Keywords: Construction industry; Corporate responsibility; Evaluation of CSR reports; Evaluation systems; Sustainability reporting; Sustainable development; Voluntary disclosure.