Exploring enablers of health and safety knowledge transfer from construction companies to project host communities

The importance of knowledge transfer as a strategic asset for organisations has long been recognised by researchers and practitioners. Therefore, this study aims to identify factors that will enable the transfer of health and safety knowledge from construction companies to project host communities in Ghana. In total, 250 contractors comprising 155 building contractors and 95 road contractors took part in the survey. Stratified simple random sampling technique was adopted in selecting the companies in the survey, and principal component analysis was the analytical method employed. Six enablers of knowledge transfer from a construction company to the community were established. Namely, individuals' ability to use knowledge, collaboration, networking, communication, trust, and local content inclusion. It is expected that this study's findings would help contractors transfer valuable knowledge to communities in which they operate. It would also inform policymakers in dealing with external knowledge transfer from the construction industry. This study is the first attempt in a developing country like Ghana to provide the construction industry with the enablers of knowledge transfer from the construction industry to a different social system (project host communities).