Occupational Health and Safety performance of commercial contractors : does FSC accreditation play a role?

The occupational health and safety in the construction industry has attracted extensive attention from both government authorities and academics. Various initiatives have attempted to improve the safety performance of the industry such as the establishment of the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner to accredit contractors under the Australian Government Building and Construction Industry Accreditation Scheme. This research examines the experiences of those contractors who have sought accreditation, their reasons for doing so, the difficulties they have faced and the benefits they have experienced as a direct result of accreditation. The research concludes that the majority of participants in this research study noted significant improvements to the safety culture in their organisation and improved safety performance. Findings also indicate the safety performance of subcontractors is generally hampered by lack of resources.