Exploring the nexus between professional ethics and occupational health and safety in construction projects: A case study approach

Notwithstanding that the construction industry is an enabler of economic growth in developing countries, the industry continues to be susceptible to a myriad of unethical behaviours. While previous research has established that ethical issues have, to a great extent, affected the integrity of and the production in the industry, much less is known about the ethical dilemmas in the context of safety and health performances. Despite that the construction professionals have a moral obligation of ensuring health and safety in the delivering of construction works, previous studies have not dealt with the ethical dilemmas underlying the noncompliance with the occupational health and safety regulations in the industry. To address this gap of knowledge, a case study approach is used to explore the nuances of ethical dilemmas in association with the occupational health and safety performance. For methodology, a semi-structured interviews together with document review techniques were applied in three construction projects in South Africa (SA). A qualitative conventional content analysis revealed five broad themes of health and safety risk factors which could be associated with unethical practices. The findings of this study offer a theoretical insight which assist to understand that addressing the professional ethics in the construction industry is pivotal to the improvement of the health and safety performance in the delivery of construction projects.