Safety management in a relationship-oriented culture

A relationship-oriented culture predominates in the Greater China region, where it is more important than in Western countries. Some characteristics of this culture influence strongly the organizational structure and interactions among members in an organization. This study aimed to explore the possible influence of relationships on safety management in relationship-oriented cultures. We hypothesized that organizational factors (management involvement and harmonious relationships) within a relationship-oriented culture would influence supervisory work (ongoing monitoring and task instructions), the reporting system (selective reporting), and teamwork (team communication and co-ordination) in safety management at a group level, which would in turn influence individual reliance complacency, risk awareness, and practices. We distributed a safety climate questionnaire to the employees of Taiwanese high-risk industries. The results of structural equation modeling supported the hypothesis. This article also discusses the findings and implications for safety improvement in countries with a relationship-oriented culture.     

The influence of supervisor leadership practices and perceived group safety climate on employee safety performance

The current study investigates the influence of the leadership practices of first-line supervisors on the safety compliance and safety participation of the employees who work for them. Contingent reward and transformational leadership are examined under conditions of positive and non-positive group safety climate in both the manufacturing and constructions sectors. Using moderated regression models (Aguinis, 2004) results indicate that greater levels of transformational and contingent reward leadership are both associated with greater levels of safety compliance and safety participation behavior, however group safety climate moderates the leadership-safety compliance relationships. Under positive group safety climate conditions employee safety compliance behavior improves as supervisor’s leadership practices increase; under non-positive group safety compliance conditions there is no improvement in safety compliance with improvements in supervisor’s leadership practices. The results provide further support to the growing literature on the value of strong group safety climates for improving safety compliance behavior, as well as the value in improving the leadership practices of first-line supervisors.     

Leadership, psychological capital and safety research: Conceptual issues and future research questions

In this theory-driven literature review we examine how leadership and emerging research in positive organizational behaviour (POB) may inform our understanding of human mechanisms that affect safety outcomes. According to authentic leadership theory, leader self-awareness and self-regulation processes are vital mechanisms in the leader-follower exchange. From emerging research on authentic leadership, we propose that production management values, attitudes, and behaviour are linked to safety climate and safety outcomes in safety critical organizations (SCOs). According to recent developments in management theory, “psychological capital” is comprised of four distinct aspects that can be linked to desirable organizational outcomes and sustained high quality performance in individual workers. From this we offer a research model and five research propositions implicating that authentic leadership directly affects safety outcomes via promoting positive safety climate perceptions. Furthermore, we propose a second path where psychological capital mediates the relationship between authentic leadership, safety climate and safety outcomes in SCOs.     

Relation between senior managers’ safety leadership and safety behavior in the Chinese petrochemical industry

Senior managers in organizations are authorized and obliged to maintain organizational safety. However, to date, little research has considered the relation of senior managers' safety leadership to safety behavior. This study addresses this gap by using path analysis to confirm the validity of a hypothetical model that relates six dimensions of senior managers' safety leadership to two safety behaviors through the safety climate in the petrochemical industry. A questionnaire survey was sent randomly to workers (other than senior managers) in two petrochemical companies in China, and data from 155 usable responses were compiled for the path analysis. Results indicate that in the petrochemical industry, senior managers' safety leadership has a positive impact on safety behavior, and the safety climate plays an intermediary role between them. From the perspective of the dimensions of senior managers' safety leadership and safety behavior, safety concern has the greatest positive effect on safety compliance. Moreover, safety vision has the greatest positive impact on safety participation, whereas safety inspiration and safety awards and punishment have negative effects on safety compliance. Personal character does not directly influence any dimension of safety behavior but indirectly does so by influencing the safety climate. On the basis of these results, measures of improving senior managers' safety leadership in the petrochemical industry are presented to help improve the overall safety performance of the industry. A new view is provided for the petrochemical industry in China to suggest that senior managers’ safety leadership can be treated earnestly.     

The effects of leadership dimensions,safety climate,and assigned priorities on minor injuries in work groups

This study is based on three premises: (a) Leadership style affects the level of concern for subordinate safety; (b) Concern for safety, operationalized with supervisory practices, provides the source for safety climate perceptions; and (c) Safety priority as assigned by higher superiors influences supervisory safety practice independently of leadership style. Assigned safety priority was expected to moderate the relationship between leadership style and injury rate in organizational subunits, with safety climate mediating this leadership–injury relationship due to its demonstrable effect on safety behavior. A within‐group split‐sample analysis of 42 work groups, coupled with prospective design, indicated that transformational and constructive leadership predicted injury rate, while corrective leadership provided indirect, conditional prediction. Leadership effects were moderated by assigned safety priorities and mediated by commensurate safety‐climate variables. The results suggest that transformational and transactional leadership provide complementary modes of (mediated and moderated) influence on safety behavior of group members. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Safety climate and mindful safety practices in the oil and gas industry

IntroductionThe existence of a positive association between safety climate and the safety behavior of sharp-end workers in high-risk organizations is supported by a considerable body of research. Previous research has primarily analyzed two components of safety behavior, namely safety compliance and safety participation. The present study extends previous research by looking into the relationship between safety climate and another component of safety behavior, namely mindful safety practices. Mindful safety practices are defined as the ability to be aware of critical factors in the environment and to act appropriately when dangers arise.MethodRegression analysis was used to examine whether mindful safety practices are, like compliance and participation, promoted by a positive safety climate, in a questionnaire-based study of 5712 sharp-end workers in the oil and gas industry.ResultsThe analysis revealed that a positive safety climate promotes mindful safety practices.ConclusionsThe regression model accounted for roughly 31% of the variance in mindful safety practices. The most important safety climate factor was safety leadership.Practical applicationsThe findings clearly demonstrate that mindful safety practices are highly context-dependent, hence, manageable and susceptible to change. In order to improve safety climate in a direction which is favorable for mindful safety practices, the results demonstrate that it is important to give the fundamental features of safety climate high priority and in particular that of safety leadership.     

Investigating factors that influence individual safety behavior at work

INTRODUCTION: A qualitative study was conducted to investigate the factors that influence individual safety behavior at work. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from a variety of occupations. RESULTS: The analysis revealed several organizational and social factors that explain why individuals engage in unsafe work practices. CONCLUSIONS: The influence of organizational/social factors on safety behavior were discussed. The results suggest that important organizational factors, in addition to job design and engineering systems, may be overlooked when identifying the causes of workplace accidents. Such factors include early socialization, and the need to portray a positive image. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The implications for management and industry are discussed.     

Modeling attitudes and perceptions as predictors for changing safety margins during organizational change

This study describes the relations between different dimensions of leadership commitment, safety climate and attitudes toward change, and how these affect employee perceptions of safety during organizational change in a high risk environment. We collected data from a European national air navigation services provider during a volatile 3-year corporatization process that ended in the sudden collapse of a deliberate change implementation project. Surprisingly, despite visible signs of internal and external stress caused by the volatile and disruptive change process, we did not observe any change in the traditional safety metrics of incident and accident reporting during the study. The study is based on a large survey (n = 422) of individual attitudes and perceptions of safety climate, perception of leadership commitment to safety, attitudes to organizational change, and perception of safety. The data support the claim that perception of safety at least, in part, depends on individual perceptions of the leadership’s commitment to safety, and the safety climate in place at a given point in time. The model shows how employee perceptions of the leadership’s commitment to safety and safety climate are related to both attitudes toward change, and to perceived safety.     

The influence of management training upon organizational climate: An exploratory study

The influence of three management training programs (MT) for first line supervisors (foremen) upon organizational climate were evaluated using a questionnaire design with repeated testing and statistical controls. The main objective for two of the three MT programs under study was to change the organizational climate in a direction that would facilitate learning at work. Results indicate that the most process-oriented training program did change the organizational climate, as perceived by the supervisors, but paradoxically in an apparently negative direction, especially as far as interpersonal conflicts and supervisorial skills were concerned. This finding is interpreted as reflecting changes in supervisors' perception of organizational climate without any necessary ‘real’ change in the climate itself. The supervisors' increased awareness of organizational climate factors was, on a theoretical basis, considered to facilitate learning at work, thus explaining the apparent paradox.     

Unraveling the organizational mechanism at the root of safety compliance in an Italian manufacturing firm

Safety performance is recognized as the more proximal and effective precursor of safety outcomes. In particular, safety compliance significantly reduces workplace accidents and injuries. However, it is not entirely clear what role organizational factors play in determining workers’ safety. The present study contributes to defining which organizational factors increase safety compliance by testing a mediational model in which supervisor support is related to safety climate, which in turn is related to organizational identification that finally is related to safety compliance. We tested our hypotheses in a sample of 186 production workers of an Italian manufacturing firm using a cross-sectional design. Findings confirm our hypotheses. Management should consider these organizational factors in order to implement primary prevention practices against work accidents.     

Multilevel approach to organizational and group safety climate and safety performance: Co-workers as the missing link

The aim of this study is to test a model on the relationships between organizational and group safety climate and safety performance, that highlights the importance of co-workers as a safety climate agent side by side supervisors at group level. The idea is to consider the co-workers’ safety climate as a necessary part of a multilevel model of safety climates’ framework associated to safety performance. Firstly, the assessment of the safety climates’ framework which consider organizational safety climate and at group level supervisor’s and co-workers’ safety climate was performed. Then, the mediating role of co-workers’ safety climate between organizational and supervisor’s safety climate, and worker’s safety behaviours was explored. From the literature, the importance to study safety climate in a multilevel perspective by a theoretical and methodological point of view is known. For these reasons the proposed models were tested with multilevel structural equation modelling. We used a two-level design which considered the individual level and the work-group level. Data collection involved 991 blue-collars, belonging to 91 work groups, from five Italian manufacturing companies. The research highlighted the importance of considering at group level not only climate referred to supervisor, but also climate referred to co-workers. Furthermore, results confirmed the mediating role of co-workers’ safety climate and revealed that co-workers’ safety climate had a stronger influence on safety behaviours, and in particular on safety participation, than supervisor’s safety climate, at individual level as well at group level.     

How do organizational practices relate to perceived system safety effectiveness? Perceptions of safety climate and co-worker commitment to safety as workplace safety signals

Introduction: Integrating safety climate research with signaling theory, we propose that individual perceptions of safety climate signal the importance of safety in the organization. Specifically, we expect that three work-related organizational practices (training effectiveness, procedure effectiveness, and work pressure) relate to the broader risk control system in the workplace via individual perceptions of safety climate as a broad management signal. Further, we expect this broad management signal interacts with a local environmental signal (co-worker commitment to safety) to amplify or diminish perceived system safety effectiveness. Method: In a field study of oil and gas workers (N = 219; Study 1), we used mediation modeling to determine the relationships between work-related organizational practices, perceived safety climate, and perceived safety system effectiveness. In a field study of railway construction workers (N = 131; Study 2), we used moderated mediation modeling to explore the conditional role of co-worker commitment to safety. Results: We found that training effectiveness, procedure effectiveness, and work pressure predicted perceived system safety effectiveness indirectly via perceived safety climate (Studies 1 and 2) and that these indirect paths are influenced by co-worker commitment to safety (Study 2). Conclusions: Findings suggest that perceived safety climate is driven in part by work practices, and that perceived safety climate (from managers) and co-worker commitment to safety (from the local environment) interact to shape workplace safety system effectiveness. Practical applications: The insight that training, procedures, and work pressure are meaningful predictors of perceived safety climate as a signal suggests that organizations should be cognizant of the quality of work-related practices for safety. The insight we offer on the competing versus complimentary nature of managerial safety signals (perceived safety climate) and co-worker safety signals (co-worker commitment to safety) could also be used by safety personnel to develop safety interventions directed in both areas.     

组织氛围对建筑工人不安全行为的影响机理及实证研究

为了研究组织氛围对建筑工人不安全行为的影响,从班组级安全氛围、班组级安全教育和项目级安全氛围三个层面测量组织氛围,基于组织氛围与安全态度、不安全动机及安全能力之间的关系,构建建筑工人不安全行为发生的机理。通过23个项目267份有效问卷收集数据,采用结构方程模型（SEM）进行验证,采用决策试验和评价实验室（DEMATEL）进一步计算和分析各潜变量之间的影响度和被影响度。研究结果表明:班组级安全氛围对安全态度、班组级安全教育对安全态度、安全能力对安全态度、安全态度对安全动机的影响显著;安全动机和安全能力对不安全行为的影响显著;班组级安全氛围、班组级安全教育和项目级安全氛围之间相互关系显著;班组级安全氛围、班组级安全教育和项目级安全教育是典型的原因影响因素,通过安全态度共同影响不安全行为。根据研究结果,提出应对措施,可为安全管理工作提供理论指导。     

Safety climate and firefighting: Focus group results

BackgroundFirefighting is a hazardous occupation and there have been numerous calls for fundamental changes in how fire service organizations approach safety and balance safety with other operational priorities. These calls, however, have yielded little systematic research.MethodsAs part of a larger project to develop and test a model of safety climate for the fire service, focus groups were used to identify potentially important dimensions of safety climate pertinent to firefighting.ResultsAnalyses revealed nine overarching themes. Competency/professionalism, physical/psychological readiness, and that positive traits sometimes produce negative consequences were themes at the individual level; cohesion and supervisor leadership/support at the workgroup level; and politics/bureaucracy, resources, leadership, and hiring/promotion at the organizational level. A multi-level perspective seems appropriate for examining safety climate in firefighting.ConclusionsSafety climate in firefighting appears to be multi-dimensional and some dimensions prominent in the general safety climate literature also seem relevant to firefighting. These results also suggest that the fire service may be undergoing transitions encompassing mission, personnel, and its fundamental approach to safety and risk.Practical applicationsThese results help point the way to the development of safety climate measures specific to firefighting and to interventions for improving safety performance.     

A mediational model of sense of coherence in the work context: a one‐year follow‐up study

The aim of this study was to test a mediational model appropriate for explaining the effects of psychosocial work characteristics (influence at work, job insecurity, organizational climate and leadership relations) on general well‐being, (psychosomatic symptoms) and on occupational well‐being (emotional exhaustion at work) via sense of coherence (SOC) in a one‐year follow‐up study. The questionnaire data were gathered in four Finnish organizations in February 1995 and 1996. Altogether 219 employees participated in the study in both years. The results, based on structural equation modelling, showed that a good organizational climate and low job insecurity were related to strong SOC, which was, in turn, linked to a high level of general as well as occupational well‐being. In addition, those employees who experienced changes in organizational climate and leadership relations during the follow‐up period, showed changes in SOC which was, in turn, related to changes in the well‐being indicators. The results thus highlight the major role of a good organizational climate for enhancing SOC and, consequently, well‐being. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Workplace safety perceptions and perceived organizational support: do supportive perceptions influence safety perceptions?

The current study investigated the relationship between organizational safety climate and perceived organizational support. Additionally, it examined the relationship with job satisfaction, worker compliance with safety management policies, and accident frequency. Safety climate and supportive perceptions were assessed with Hayes, Perander, Smecko, et al. 's (1998) and Eisenberger, Fasolo and LaMastro's (1990) scales respectively. Confirmatory factors analysis confirmed the 5-factor structure of Hayes et al. 's WSS scale. Regression analysis and t-tests indicated that workers with positive perspectives regarding supportive perceptions similarly expressed positive perceptions concerning workplace safety. Furthermore, they expressed greater job satisfaction, were more compliant with safety management policies, and registered lower accident rates. The perceived level of support in an organization is apparently closely associated with workplace safety perception and other organizational and social factors which are important for safety. The results are discussed in light of escalating interest in how organizational factors affect employee safety and supportive perceptions.     

Where to focus? Insights from safety personnel and external safety consultants on lessons learned about safety climate interventions – A qualitative approach

Introduction: Safety climate is important for promoting workplace safety and health. However, there is a dearth of empirical research on the effective ways of planning, designing, and implementing safety climate interventions, especially regarding what is going to be changed and improved. To address this gap, the present study sought to extract a comprehensive pool of compiled suggestions for safety climate intervention based on qualitative interviews with professionals in occupational safety and health management from potentially hazardous industries. Method: A series of systematic semi-structured interviews, guided by a comprehensive sociotechnical systems framework, were conducted with company safety personnel (n = 26) and external safety consultants (n = 15) of 21 companies from various industries. The taxonomy of five work system components of the sociotechnical systems approach served as overarching themes, representing different areas of improvement in an organization for occupational safety and health promotion, with an aim of enhancing safety climate. Results: Of the 36 codes identified, seven codes were based on the theme of external environment work system, four were based on the theme of internal environment work system, five were based on the theme of organizational and managerial structure work system, 14 codes were based on the theme of personnel subsystem, and six were based on the theme of technical subsystem. Conclusions: Safety climate intervention strategies might be most commonly based upon the principles of human resource management (i.e., codes based on the personnel subsystem theme and organizational and managerial structure work system theme). Meanwhile, numerous attributes of external/internal environment work system and technical subsystem can be jointly improved to bolster safety climate in a holistic way. Practical Applications: More systematic and organized management of safety climate would be available when various interrelated codes pertinent to a given context are carefully considered for a safety climate intervention.     

Safety management in different high-risk domains – All the same?

In view of safety management being introduced in more and more industries, the aim of this paper is to discuss what different high-risk industries can learn from each other and what limits for generalizing safety management methods within and across industries exist. After presenting core components of safety management, three attributes crucial to any organization’s functioning are described, which also affect the way safety management systems should be designed, run, and assessed. These attributes are (1) the kinds of safety to be managed, (2) the general approach to managing uncertainty as a hallmark of organizations that manage safety, and (3) the regulatory regime within which safety is managed. By discussing safety management in the context of these three attributes, contingencies are outlined that can help decision-makers in companies to tailor safety management to their own situation and support regulators in drawing up and evaluating safety management requirements for different industries while also promoting learning between different high-risk domains. Standards and procedures, safety training, incident reporting and investigation, and safety culture are taken as examples to illustrate why and how different aspects of organizational functioning should be taken into account when designing and evaluating safety management systems or elements thereof.     

基于Meta分析的安全氛围与安全绩效的关系研究*

为更系统地归纳安全氛围与安全绩效的关系,探究安全氛围、安全绩效及安全结果间的影响机制,采用Meta分析方法,通过2000—2020年54篇文献的55个独立研究样本进行定量综合分析,并进一步探讨安全氛围与安全绩效各维度间的关系,同时运用Meta二元回归探究潜在调节变量对2者间关系的调节作用。结果表明:安全氛围显著正向影响安全绩效,在高危行业中安全氛围对安全绩效影响更大;安全氛围与安全参与、安全遵守均显著正相关,且安全氛围对安全参与的影响强于对安全遵守的影响;安全氛围和安全绩效均与安全结果显著负相关,且安全绩效对安全结果的影响强于安全氛围对安全结果的影响。