Safety casualties in the construction industry have long been a concern for scholars worldwide, particularly in developing countries where construction workers face a risk of death 3 to 6 times higher than in developed nations. An empirical survey was conducted among 563 construction site personnel in China. Data collection involved both online and offline self-administered questionnaires. The collected data underwent testing and hypothesis analysis using SPSS23 and Amos23. The study revealed that safety knowledge transfer plays a crucial role in moderating the relationship between safety climate and builders’ safety behavior. Effective knowledge transfer significantly enhances the impact of safety climate on personnel safety behavior, acting as a mediating factor. Additionally, individual differences were found to moderate the relationship between the mediating variable and the dependent variable. These findings offer valuable insights for construction companies aiming to improve safety management and reduce safety accidents on construction sites. Implementing efficient safety knowledge transfer can enhance safety climate impact and prevent construction site casualties.