Roles of owners' leadership in construction safety: The case of high-speed railway construction projects in China

• A comprehensive interpretation of owners' role in construction safety is proposed.
• An ethnographic study on Chinese high-speed railway construction projects is presented.
• Four safety leadership categories and four safety management chains are identified.
• Owners' safety leadership involves role modeling, motivating and coaching, caring, and controlling.
• Owner's safety leadership is the key prerequisite of managerial innovation and safety improvement.

Owners' role in project safety improvement is drawing increasing attention in the academia. Their greatest leverage is the leadership to influence safety perception, motivation and behavior of other stakeholders. However, previous studies have not paid enough attention to owners' leadership and its impacting mechanisms, nor have they identified effective leadership behaviors related to high safety performance. This paper seeks to present a comprehensive interpretation of owners' role in construction safety by identifying their effective leadership practices and specific managerial measures. A case study was undertaken on Chinese high-speed railway construction projects currently undergoing significant safety improvement thanks to their owner's commitment to safety. The ethnographic research method was applied to collect empirical data, i.e. the owner's safety leadership and management practices. Based on grounded theory, four categories of safety leadership practices were identified to interpret what types of leaders are required in construction projects. Four safety managerial chains driven by safety leadership were synthesized. They give insights into the measures which owners can implement to improve construction safety. Concrete and specific measures were explored for construction owners, especially those in developing countries, to enhance their safety leadership and management. These findings can be used by construction owners to improve their safety leadership and reinforce their involvement in project safety management, especially when their industry is facing significant safety challenges and demanding transformational development.