Safety of repair, maintenance, alteration and addition (RMAA) works has long been 6 neglected because RMAA works are often minute and only last for a short period of time. With 7 rising importance of the RMAA sector in many developed societies, safety of RMAA works has 8 begun to draw attention. Many RMAA contracting companies are SMEs which do not have 9 comprehensive safety management systems. Existing safety legislation and regulations for new 10 construction sites are not fully applicable

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... RMAA works. Instead of relying on explicit and 11 well established safety systems, tacit safety knowledge plays an extremely important role in 12 RMAA projects. To improve safety of RMAA works, safety knowledge should be better 13 managed. However, safety knowledge is difficult to capture in RMAA works. This study aims to 14 examine safety management practices of RMAA contracting companies to see how safety 15 knowledge of RMAA projects is managed. Findings show that RMAA contracting companies 16 undertaking large scale RMAA projects have more initiatives of safety management. Safety 17 management of small scale RMAA works relies heavily on the motivation of site supervisors and 18 self-regulation of workers. Better tacit knowledge management improves safety performance. To 19 enhance safety capability of RMAA contracting companies, a knowledge sharing culture should 20 be cultivated. The government should provide assistance to SMEs to implement proper safety 21 This is the Pre-Published Version. management practices in small-sized projects. Potentials of applying computer software 22 technology in RMAA projects to capture, store, and retrieve safety information should be 23 explored. Employees should be motivated to share safety knowledge by giving proper 24 recognition to those who are willing to share. 25 26