The objective of this paper is to make an evaluation of how safety is perceived by people who should deal with it in a construction site. A qualitative approach was used to collect and analyze the data. Nine interviews were performed, including an engineer, a foreman, a consultant and six workers. Based on the description and the analysis of the interviews it was possible to understand their perception about nine issues: reasons for accidents, suggestions to improve safety, job satisfaction, training, main risks at work, main priority, work load, frequency of small accidents and near-misses, and level of safety awareness. Their perceptions uncover the need of managerial improvements, which may directly or indirectly contribute to improve the safety in the work site.
safety; construction; qualitative research