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The COVID-19 pandemic provides researchers and practitioners with an opportunity to examine the effect of emergency policing on public trust in the police and augment our understanding. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of police enforcement of COVID-19 health measures on public trust in the police in Ghana.

A multivariate binary logistic regression was utilized to assess the effect of police enforcement of COVID-19 health measures on public trust in the police in Ghana using national representative data.

Our analysis suggests that emergency policing positively influences public trust in the police in Ghana. Additionally, we observed that police-related issues such as corruption and professionalism, as well as demographic factors of the public, influence trust in the police. These observations are helpful for emergency policing and policy development in Ghana.

This study is unique because it uses national representative data to assess the effect of police enforcement of COVID-19 health measures on public trust in the police in Ghana. Furthermore, this study is among the first or among the few from Ghana and the sub-region to examine the nexus between health emergencies and policing.

Construction workers’ safety behavior has been proven to be crucial in preventing occupational injuries and improving workplace safety, and organizational safety support provides essential resources to promote such behavior. However, the specific mechanisms of how organizational safety support affects safety behavior have not been thoroughly explored. Therefore, this study explored the relationship between workers’ perceived organizational safety support (perceived supervisor/coworker safety support) and safety behavior (safety task/contextual behavior), while considering the mediating effects of safety motivation, emotional exhaustion, and the moderating effect of psychosocial safety climate.

Based on the quantitative research method, the hypothesis was tested. The data were collected from 500 construction workers using a structured questionnaire. Observed variables were tested using confirmatory factor analysis, and the path coefficient of fitted model was then analyzed including the associated mediating and moderating effects.

The study found that (1) safety support from both supervisors and coworkers directly forecasted both types of safety behavior, (2) safety motivation was primarily predicted by perceived supervisor safety support, and perceived coworker safety support better predicted emotional exhaustion. Safety motivation mediated the relationship between perceived supervisor safety support and safety contextual behavior, and emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between both types of safety support and both types of safety behavior, (3) psychosocial safety climate moderated the pathway relationships mediated by safety motivation and emotional exhaustion, respectively.

The samples of this study were mostly immersed in eastern culture and the construction industry, and the cultural and industry diversity of the samples deserves further consideration to enhance the universality of the results. The cross-sectional approach may have some impact on the accuracy of the results. In addition, other potential mediating variables deserve to be explored in future studies.

This study provides a new basis for extending current theoretical frameworks of organizational safety support and safety behavior by using a moderated mediation model. Some practical insights on construction safety management have also been proposed based on the research findings. It is recommended that practitioners should further raise awareness of the critical role of supervisor-worker and worker-coworker relationships, as high levels of safety support from the supervisor/worker respectively effectively encourage safety motivation, alleviate emotional exhaustion, and thus improve workers’ safety performance. Meanwhile, the psychosocial health conditions of workers should also receive further attention.