Background:
Resilience affects the occurrence of unsafe acts, influencing occupational incidents. Understanding this impact can aid in preventing such incidents through proactive measures.

Aim:
This study aims to determine the relationship between cognitive resilience and cognitive failures, leading to unsafe acts.

Methods:
This cross-sectional study was performed on 173 construction workers employed in a petrochemical sector in Asaluyeh, Iran. The Unsafe Act questionnaire and Connor–Davidson resilience scale were utilized to collect data. Correlation analysis was used to interpret the results. The Pearson correlation test and ANOVA were employed to explore the relationships between cognitive resilience, unsafe acts, and cognitive failures.

Results:
The analysis revealed a high prevalence of unsafe acts, potentially compromising safety, alongside moderate levels of cognitive resilience among workers. A strong negative correlation was found between total resilience scores and unsafe acts (r = -0.701, P value < 0.001). Additionally, education level, near-miss history, and accidents, leading to absenteeism, were significantly related to cognitive resilience and unsafe acts (P value < 0.001).

Conclusion:
Enhancing cognitive resilience in construction workers significantly reduces unsafe acts. Given the strong correlation, training programs to boost cognitive resilience should be implemented within organizational instructions to enhance job security and reduce unsafe acts.