Construction industry is considered to be one of the most hazardous industries in the world. The reason could be attributed to its hazardous nature as it is an accident-prone industry. Thus, a need for better understanding of safety management system is essential for improving safety performance in this sector. This paper discusses briefly the elements of safety management by presenting different systems (such as Oregon OSHA Occupational Health and Safety Administration, and OTAR Overseas Territories Aviation Circle) and elaborating their elements. It also discusses two types of measuring safety performance the first is the lagging indicators and the second is the leading indicator. In addition, a field study was conducted to explore contractors' perception on safety management. A questionnaire was distributed to
construction firms. 200 responses were collected and analyzed. All of the results showed positive answers which indicate that safety in performance in Egypt is slightly above average as all means were close to average.