Does formal daily huddle meetings improve safety awareness?

Injury and fatality rates of the construction industry prove it to be one of the most dangerous industries in which to work. Along with the inherent complexity of the construction tasks, lack of coordination and interaction among the project participants contribute to the current state of safety and health of the construction industry. One way to improve project performance is to increase participants' involvement and augment interactions. Formal Daily Huddle Meeting (FDHM) is one such tool that increases participants' interaction. The workers also get an opportunity to express their thoughts and concerns relevant to the scope of work for that day. The goal of the study was to explore the efficacy of FDHM in construction environment. Multiple case study method was employed to collect interaction data among project participants during Daily Huddle Meetings. Based on the analysis of the interaction data collected from 40 FDHMs and content analyses of open-ended interviews of project participants, it was evident that the FDHMs were instrumental in improving the interaction and safety awareness among the participants.;  Injury and fatality rates of the construction industry prove it to be one of the most dangerous industries in which to work. Along with the inherent complexity of the construction tasks, lack of coordination and interaction among the project participants contribute to the current state of safety and health of the construction industry. One way to improve project performance is to increase participants' involvement and augment interactions. Formal Daily Huddle Meeting (FDHM) is one such tool that increases participants' interaction. The workers also get an opportunity to express their thoughts and concerns relevant to the scope of work for that day. The goal of the study was to explore the efficacy of FDHM in construction environment. Multiple case study method was employed to collect interaction data among project participants during Daily Huddle Meetings. Based on the analysis of the interaction data collected from 40 FDHMs and content analyses of open-ended interviews of project participants, it was evident that the FDHMs were instrumental in improving the interaction and safety awareness among the participants.;