The Ergonomic Program Implementation Continuum (EPIC): Integration of health and safety - A process evaluation in the healthcare sector

IntroductionThis article presents a health and safety intervention model and the use of process evaluation to assess a participatory ergonomic intervention.MethodThe effectiveness of the Ergonomic Program Implementation Continuum (EPIC) was assessed at six healthcare pilot sites in Ontario, Canada. The model provided a framework to demonstrate evaluation findings.ResultsParticipants reported that EPIC was thorough and identified improvements related to its use. Participants believed the program contributed to advancing an organizational culture of safety (COS). Main barriers to program uptake included resistance to change and need for adequate funding and resources. The dedication of organizational leaders and consultant coaches was identified as essential to the program's success.Impact on IndustryIn terms of impact on industry, findings contribute to the evidence-based knowledge of health and safety interventions and support use of the framework for creating a robust infrastructure to advance organizational COS and link staff safety and wellness with patient safety in healthcare.     

Implementing and evaluating novel safety training methods for construction sector workers: Results of a randomized controlled trial

Introduction: The construction industry is regarded as one of the most unsafe occupational fields worldwide. Despite general agreement that safety training is an important factor in preventing accidents in the construction sector, more studies are needed to identify effective training methods. To address the current research gap, this study evaluated the impact of novel, participatory safety training methods on construction workers’ safety competencies. Specifically, we assessed the efficacy of an immersive virtual reality (VR)-based safety training program and a participatory human factors safety training program (HFST) in construction industry workplaces. Method: In 2019, 119 construction sector workers from eight workplaces participated in a randomized controlled trial conducted in Finland. All the study participants were assessed using questionnaires at baseline, immediately after the intervention and at one-month follow-up. We applied generalized linear mixed modeling for statistical analysis. Results: Compared to lecture-based safety training, VR-based safety training showed a stronger impact on safety motivation, self-efficacy and safety-related outcome expectancies. In addition, the construction sector workers who participated in the VR-based safety training showed a greater increase in self-reported safety performance at one-month follow-up. Contrary to our study hypotheses, we found no significant differences between the study outcomes in terms of study participants in the HFST training condition and the comparison condition without HFST training. Conclusion: Our study indicates that VR technology as a safety training tool has potential to increase safety competencies and foster motivational change in terms of the safety performance of construction sector workers. In the future, the efficacy of participatory human factors safety training should be studied further using a version that targets both managerial and employee levels and is implemented in a longer format. Practical implications: Safety training in virtual reality provides a promising alternative to passive learning methods. Its motivating effect complements other safety training activities.     

Impact of psychological capital on construction worker safety behavior: Communication competence as a mediator

IntroductionConstruction workers face a work environment of high risk and mental stress. Psychological capital (PsyCap) could influence employee's mental health and work performance. It would be helpful to determine whether PsyCap affects worker safety behavior. However, few studies empirically examined the impacts of the sub-dimensions of PsyCap on the safety behavior in construction settings, reducing the potential practicability of PsyCap to improve workplace safety performance. Thus, this study tested the relationship between sub-dimensions of PsyCap (self-efficacy, hope, resilience, optimism) and safety behaviors (safety compliance, safety participation), while the mediating role of communication competence was also explored. Method: Data were collected from 655 construction workers in China using a psychological capital questionnaire (PCQ). The theoretical model were tested with confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques. Results: Results show that: (a) the self-efficacy dimension of PsyCap positively affected safety compliance and safety participation, while the resilience dimension positively impacted safety participation; (b) the hope dimension was not directly related to safety behaviors, while the optimism dimension negatively associated with safety participation; and (c) communication competence mediated the relationships between the hope and optimism dimensions of PsyCap and safety participation. Conclusions: A multidimensional perspective on PsyCap should be taken while examining its effects on safety behavior and the individual communication competence helps to enhance construction safety. Findings of this study shed lights on safety behavior promotion practices based on the multidimensional model. Initiating flexible psychological capital training and intervention, and strengthening communication skills of construction employees are suggested to improve safety performance in the construction industry.     

A training intervention to improve frontline construction leaders' safety leadership practices and overall jobsite safety climate

Introduction: The 2.5 h Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) training program teaches construction supervisors the leadership skills they need to strengthen jobsite safety climate and reduce adverse safety-related outcomes. Methods: Using a quasi-experimental prospective switching replications study design, we examined (1) if FSL-trained jobsite safety leaders would report improved understanding and practice of the FSL leadership skills, safety practices and crew reporting of safety related conditions, and (2) if their crew perceived a change in (a) their supervisors' practices, (b) their own safety practices and reporting of safety-related conditions, and (c) overall jobsite safety climate. Twenty construction sub-contracting companies were recruited and randomly assigned to either an early or lagged-control training group. Participating supervisors and workers completed surveys at multiple time points before and after the FSL training. We used linear mixed modeling to test changes over time. Results: Only supervisors in the early group reported a statistically significant improvement in their understanding and practice of the leadership skills as well as safety practices from before to 2- and 4-weeks post-training. Overall, no significant change was detected in crew-reported outcomes from before to after their supervisors' participated in the FSL training. Conclusions: These results provide evidence that the FSL training can, at least in the short-term, improve construction frontline leaders' jobsite leadership skills. Future research could include an evaluation of FSL refresher activities and a longer-term follow-up. Practical applications: The Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) program fills an identified need for construction frontline supervisors to learn and practice critical safety leadership skills on the jobsite. It has already reached over 60,000 leaders and has the potential to reach over 100,000 each year during either an OSHA 30-h or a stand-alone course.     

On the contribution to the alignment during an organizational change: Measurement of job satisfaction with working conditions

Introduction: Modern approaches to Occupational Health and Safety have acknowledged the important contribution that continuous improvements to working conditions can make to the motivation of employees, their subsequent performance, and therefore to the competitiveness of the company. Despite this fact, organizational change initiatives represent a path less traveled by employees. Specialized literature has drawn on the fact that employees’ satisfaction presents both the foundation and catalyst for effective implementation of improvements to working conditions. Method: This paper conceptualizes the alignment of employees through measurement of job satisfaction and uses the Bayesian Network to assess the influence of human factors, particularly the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects. Toward this aim, the Bayesian Network is evaluated through a cross-validation process, and a sensitivity analysis is then conducted for each influential dimension: emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. Results: The results reveal that these three dimensions are interrelated and have a direct influence on job satisfaction and employees’ alignment during the organization change. Further, they suggest that the best strategy for enhanced alignment and smooth conduct of organizational changes is simultaneous enhancement of the three dimensions. Practical applications: This study shows the influence of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions on job satisfaction and employees’ alignment during the organizational change. Furthermore, it elaborates the way to develop efficient and effective strategies for a successful change implementation and sustained alignment.     

The INDICATE safety program: evaluation of a method to proactively improve airline safety performance

A number of recent and highly publicised fatal aircraft accidents, within the Australian regional airline industry, has highlighted the need for operators of regular public transport aircraft to be more proactive in identifying and addressing aviation safety hazards. Despite this need, there are currently few proactive safety management programs that are practical, simple, cost effective and which reliably demonstrate improvements in airline safety performance. This paper outlines a new proactive airline safety program called INDICATE (Identifying Needed Defences In the Civil Aviation Transport Environment) that has been applied within the Australian regional airline industry. To evaluate the INDICATE program, a major Australian regional airline agreed to implement the program in one of its operational bases while another base was used as a control group. Five evaluation criteria were applied to determine whether the program would have a positive influence on the airline's safety performance. These criteria included airline safety culture, staff risk perception of aviation safety hazards, willingness of staff to report safety hazards, action taken on identified safety hazards and staff comments about safety management within the airline. Results from the trial suggest that the program can have a positive influence on airline safety performance, specifically: improving staff confidence in how safety is managed, increasing staff willingness to report safety hazards and incidents, improving organisational safety culture and reducing staff perceptions of the severity and likelihood of safety hazards occurring within the airline. The success of the trial has resulted in a number of Australian and International airlines adopting the program.     

Factors related to youth self-efficacy for injury prevention bicycle skills

Introduction: Bicycle riding is a common activity for children, but they are prone to bicycle-related injuries. It is well-established that injury prevention measures such as wearing a helmet and correctly riding a bicycle can reduce the severity of an injury and the likelihood of having an accident. However, how to increase bicycle injury prevention behaviors among children, who collectively fail to engage in injury prevention behaviors, is less well understood. Self-efficacy is consistently predictive of injury prevention behavior, making it an important approach to understanding injury prevention skills among this key population. The objective of this study was to explore and identify factors internal to the child as well as factors about his or her environment that predict a child’s self-efficacy for injury prevention skills. Method: Two generalized linear mixed effects models were created from survey data collected from elementary school students (n = 2,255) as part of a school-based bicycle education program. Models focused on self-efficacy for riding a bicycle and self-efficacy for wearing a helmet correctly. Results: In both models, road safety knowledge, opportunity for skill building through owning appropriate equipment (a bicycle or helmet), and situation through perception of neighborhood safety were predictive. The analyses reveal these variables as key factors for greater confidence, with feeling safe riding in the neighborhood, in particular, emerging as highly predictive of self-efficacy for injury prevention skills. Conclusions: These findings highlight the interplay of individual and environmental factors within confidence for injury prevention behavior. Given self-efficacy’s strong relationship to prevention behavior, these findings indicate actionable strategies. Practical Applications: The key factors highlighted in this study can be used by policymakers to target specific areas (e.g., neighborhood safety) to promote self-efficacy and thus improve injury prevention. These factors can also inform strategies for establishing safety skills in bicycle-safety education programs.     

Effectiveness of the CDC HEADS UP online training on healthcare providers’ mTBI knowledge and self-efficacy

Background: Many healthcare providers do not consistently implement recommendations contained in clinical guidelines on mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). As such, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created the HEADS UP to Healthcare Providers online training to promote uptake of five key recommendations in the CDC Pediatric mTBI Guideline. Methods: Using data from modules in the CDC HEADS UP to Healthcare Providers online training, healthcare providers’ self-reported knowledge and self-efficacy prior to and immediately following completion of the training was analyzed. Results: Improvements for 8 out of the 10 knowledge questions had a high level of practical significance. The knowledge question with the highest level of practical significance pre- to post-test improvement was for the key guideline recommendation on neuroimaging (pre-test correct: 70.2%; post-test correct: 87.8%; (p < 0.0001, Cohen’s g = 0.39). Four out of the six questions had a self-efficacy level increase of a high level of practical significance (r > 0.50) between the pre- and post-tests. The self-efficacy question with pre- to post-test improvement with the highest level of practical significance was “I am confident in my ability to manage the return to sports progression for my patients” (p < 0.001; r = 0.54). Conclusions: The HEADS UP to Healthcare Providers online training led to significant improvements in knowledge and self-efficacy related to mTBI diagnosis and management. Expanded use of this training among healthcare providers who commonly provide care for pediatric patients with mTBI may be beneficial. Practical Applications: This study highlights several factors guideline developers may take into consideration when creating an implementation tool, such as using health behavior theories, working with partners and key stakeholders, and focusing on digital-based tools.     

The mediating role of psychological capital between perceived management commitment and safety behavior

Introduction: Among attempts that address high incidences of fatalities and injuries in coal mines, increasing attention has been paid to management commitment to complement the traditional focus on technological advances in safety management. However, more research is needed to explain the influence of perceived management commitment, with extant research drawing commonly on Griffin and Neal (2000) to focus on safety knowledge, skills, and motivation. This study draws on social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) to investigate psychological capital as a link between thought process and safety behavior. Method: This study uses survey data from 400 frontline workers in China’s coal mines to test hypotheses. Result: Results suggest that perceived management commitment to safety correlates positively with workers’ safety compliance and participation, and four constituents of psychological capital—self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience—explain the influence of perceived management commitment on safety compliance and participation. Practical Applications: Findings offer both researchers and practitioners an explanation of how perceived management commitment influences safety behaviors, and clarify the roles psychological capital constituents play in explaining the influence of perceived management commitment on safety compliance and safety participation.     

A comparison of motorcycle instructor candidate selection practices in the United States

Introduction: An essential aspect of motorcycle rider education is how the instructor selection process impacts student learning, sometimes referred to as the human element, as it is a significant factor influencing curriculum success. Student and program achievements are partially contingent on instructors who understand the curriculum and facilitate student learning during instruction. Previous research on motorcycle rider education has emphasized a need for the examination of instructor selection and development, stating that quality education is reliant on instructors who are competent and qualified. Method: By applying an exploratory study method, state and military Motorcycle Safety Education Program Managers and Instructor Trainers were examined and compared through telephonic interviews to develop a greater understanding of instructor candidate selection criteria and vetting processes. Results: The results suggest that changes in instructor candidate selection systems may improve decisions about a candidate's job and organizational fit. Conclusions: Study conclusions indicate that use of multiple and thorough assessments to determine a candidate’s motivation, social disposition, and emotional intelligence before preparation courses may better identify candidates and align potential job and organization fit within the discipline. Practical Application: Applications of the findings would include a standardized selection process with improved interviews and pre-course auditing, and candidate expectation management before the selection to attend preparation or certification courses. The efforts potentially decrease long-term costs and deficiencies when candidates have an inconsistent job or organizational fit, departing from organizations after short periods or by not providing consistent quality instruction to students. The study recommendations, when implemented, can improve most educational disciplines where instructors are selected for technical instructional positions where students risk injury or harm.     

Change in frontline supervisors’ safety leadership practices after participating in a leadership training program: Does company size matter?

Introduction: The majority of construction companies are small businesses and small business often lack the resources needed to ensure that their supervisors have the safety leadership skills to build and maintain a strong jobsite safety climate. The Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) training program was designed to provide frontline leaders in all sized companies with safety leadership skills. This paper examines the impact of the FSL training by size of business. Methods: Leaders, defined as foremen or other frontline supervisors, from small, medium, and large construction companies were recruited to participate in a study to evaluate the degree to which the FSL changed their understanding and use of the leadership skills, safety practices and crew reporting of safety-related conditions. We used linear mixed modeling methods to analyze pre-post training survey data. Results: Prior to the training, leaders from small and medium sized companies reported using safety leadership skills less frequently than those from large ones. After the training, regardless of business size, we observed that the FSL training improved leaders understanding of safety leadership skills from immediately before to immediately after the training. Additionally, leaders reported greater use of safety leadership skills, safety practices, and crew reporting of safety-related conditions from before to two-weeks after the training. However, those from small and medium sized companies reported the greatest improvement in their use of safety leadership skills. Conclusions: The FSL training improves safety leadership outcomes regardless of the size company for which the leader worked. However, the FSL may be even more effective at improving the safety leadership skills of leaders working for smaller sized construction companies or those with lower baseline levels of safety leadership skills. Practical applications: The majority of construction companies employ a small number of employees and therefore may not have the resources to provide their frontline leaders with the leadership training they need to be effective leaders who can create a strong jobsite safety climate. The Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) training can help fill this gap.     

Enhancing safety competencies of young adults: A randomized field trial (RCT)

IntroductionYoung workers are exposed to various occupational hazards, often with limited experience and skills. In this study, we investigated the effects of the Attitude to Work Program on the safety competencies of young workers. Based on the social cognitive theory, the intervention was developed to help young people adopt an active role in preventing occupational hazards and overcoming barriers to safe work.MethodThe program was implemented in eight upper secondary-level vocational schools in Finland during 2015. A total of 464 students participated in the cluster randomized field trial. Those in the intervention group (n = 229) participated in the Attitude to Work Program. During the program, students identified and practiced behavioral strategies to prevent occupational hazards. Students in the control condition (n = 235) received written material about the same safety-related topics.ResultsThe short-term follow-up showed that the intervention significantly increased safety preparedness and the internal safety locus of control among the students in the intervention condition in comparison to those in the control condition. Students in the intervention condition also showed reduced risk-taking attitudes relative to those in the control condition. Furthermore, those who benefited most from the program were high conscientiousness students. The sensation-seeking level or vocational track did not moderate any of the intervention effects.ConclusionThe results demonstrated that safety competencies can be modified by intervention techniques based on a social-cognitive framework.Practical implicationsThis study provides tools for school-based safety training and future intervention development. Further research is needed to study the relationships between cognitive factors, safety behavior, and accidents.     

A hybrid decision-making approach based on FCM and MOORA for occupational health and safety risk analysis

IntroductionWith the development of industries and increased diversity of their associated hazards, the importance of identifying these hazards and controlling the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) risks has also dramatically augmented. Currently, there is a serious need for a risk management system to identify and prioritize risks with the aim of providing corrective/preventive measures to minimize the negative consequences of OHS risks. In fact, this system can help the protection of employees’ health and reduction of organizational costs. Method: The present study proposes a hybrid decision-making approach based on the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM), and Multi-Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis (MOORA) for assessing and prioritizing OHS risks. After identifying the risks and determining the values of the risk assessment criteria via the FMEA technique, the attempt is made to determine the weights of criteria based on their causal relationships through FCM and the hybrid learning algorithm. Then, the risk prioritization is carried out using the MOORA method based on the decision matrix (the output of the FMEA) and the weights of the criteria (the output of the FCM). Results: The results from the implementation of the proposed approach in a manufacturing company reveal that the score at issue can overcome some of the drawbacks of the traditional Risk Priority Number (RPN) in the conventional FMEA, including lack of assignment the different relative importance to the assessment criteria, inability to take into account other important management criteria, lack of consideration of causal relationships among criteria, and high dependence of the prioritization on the experts’ opinions, which finally provides a full and distinct risk prioritization.     

Talking with teens about traffic safety: Initial feasibility,acceptability, and efficacy of a parent-targeted intervention for primary care settings

IntroductionThe aims of the current pilot study were to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the Talking with Teens about Traffic Safety Program. The program consists of a clinic-based health coaching session with parents of adolescents at their annual well-child visit to promote parent-teen communication about teen driver safety including: a Parent Handbook that is designed to serve as a primer on teen driver safety and facilitate parent-teen communication on a variety of teen driver topics; an interactive practice driving toolset; and an endorsement of the materials by the primary care provider.MethodFifty-four parent-teen dyads (n = 108 total) were recruited from a primary care practice. Dyads were randomized (1:1) into a treatment group or a usual care group. Implementation fidelity was assessed using checklists completed by health coaches and parent interviews. After 6 months, parents reported how often they talked with their teen about 12 safe driving topics (e.g., state graduated driver licensing laws).ResultsParents in the treatment group reported more frequent discussions than parents in the control group on 7 out of the 12 topics. Fidelity data indicate that 100% of sessions were implemented as designed and were acceptable to parents.ConclusionsThe program was feasible to administer and there was evidence for preliminary efficacy. Generally, effects were larger for more infrequently discussed topics, which is to be expected due to the potential for ceiling effects on more commonly discussed topics (e.g., distracted driving). A larger multi-site study is warranted.Practical applicationsThe results from this pilot study provide support for implementation fidelity and establish a proof-of-concept for the Talking with Teens about Traffic Safety Program. The results provide guidance for developing partnerships with pediatricians and parents to develop parent-teen communication interventions on injury prevention topics.     

Improving construction site safety through leader-based verbal safety communication

Background

The construction industry is one of the most injury-prone industries, in which production is usually prioritized over safety in daily on-site communication. Workers have an informal and oral culture of risk, in which safety is rarely openly expressed. This paper tests the effect of increasing leader-based on-site verbal safety communication on the level of safety and safety climate at construction sites. Method: A pre-post intervention-control design with five construction work gangs is carried out. Foremen in two intervention groups are coached and given bi-weekly feedback about their daily verbal safety communications with their workers. Foremen-worker verbal safety exchanges (experience sampling method, n = 1,693 interviews), construction site safety level (correct vs. incorrect, n = 22,077 single observations), and safety climate (seven dimensions, n = 105 questionnaires) are measured over a period of up to 42 weeks. Results: Baseline measurements in the two intervention and three control groups reveal that foremen speak with their workers several times a day. Workers perceive safety as part of their verbal communication with their foremen in only 6-16% of exchanges, and the levels of safety at the sites range from 70-87% (correct observations). Measurements from baseline to follow-up in the two intervention groups reveal that safety communication between foremen and workers increases significantly in one of the groups (factor 7.1 increase), and a significant yet smaller increase is found when the two intervention groups are combined (factor 4.6). Significant increases in the level of safety are seen in both intervention groups (7% and 12% increases, respectively), particularly in regards to 'access ways' and 'railings and coverings' (39% and 84% increases, respectively). Increases in safety climate are seen in only one of the intervention groups with respect to their 'attention to safety.' No significant trend changes are seen in the three control groups on any of the three measures. Conclusions: Coaching construction site foremen to include safety in their daily verbal exchanges with workers has a significantly positive and lasting effect on the level of safety, which is a proximal estimate for work-related accidents. It is recommended that future studies include coaching and feedback at all organizational levels and for all involved parties in the construction process. Building client regulations could assign the task of coaching to the client appointed safety coordinators or a manager/supervisor, and studies should measure longitudinal effects of coaching by following foremen and their work gangs from site to site.     

Longitudinal safety impacts of cooperative adaptive cruise control vehicle's degradation

Introduction: The adaptive cruise control (ACC) and cooperative ACC (CACC) systems are critical parts of self-driving vehicles. The ACC vehicles detect front vehicle' information via vehicle-mounted sensors and make longitudinal reactions automatically, while CACC vehicles enhance the performance by vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) wireless communication. However, CACC vehicles may abruptly degrade to ACC mode in reality due to various reasons, including communication failures, driver manipulations, and cyber-attacks. The sudden degradation will definitely bring negative influences on safety. Method:This study quantitatively evaluated the longitudinal safety impacts of vehicles' degradation in a CACC fleet based on microscopic simulations. The realistic CACC and ACC models proposed by the California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) were used for simulation experiments. The time integrated time-to-collision (TIT) was measured to quantify the collision risks. Extensive simulations were conducted via a fleet of 10 CACC vehicles and speed profiles of vehicles in different scenarios were compared. Key factors, including the leading vehicle's deceleration rate, the number of vehicles between degraded vehicles (NVDVs), threshold of TTC, and visibility were also examined via sensitivity analyses. Results and conclusions: Simulation results indicate that degradation has significant negative influences on longitudinal safety of degraded vehicles under the driving state of deceleration. Degradation at middle positions in a CACC fleet, such as fourth and fifth positions, is much safer than that at others. Moreover, nonadjacent degradation is much riskier than adjacent degradation at the front positions of a fleet. NVDVs can bring inverse impacts on safety with different degradation positions. Speed profiles imply that the hysteresis of degraded vehicles' speed control is the major reason for high collision risks. Practical applications: Appropriately, hierarchical countermeasures have the potential to reduce the longitudinal safety impacts of degradation. Findings of this study can contribute to determining the applicable length of CACC fleets.     

Exploring patterns of multiple climates and their effects on safety performance at the department level

Introduction: This paper represents a first attempt to fill a gap in research about different specific climates and safety outcomes, by empirically identifying patterns of climates and exploring the possible effect of different climates at the department level on some specific safety outcomes. The first objective was to explore how different specific climates (safety, communication, diversity and inclusion) can be associated to each other, considering the department level of analysis. The second objective was to examine the relationships between those patterns of climates with safety performance (compliance and participation behaviors). Method: A total of 429 blue-collar workers in 35 departments answered a questionnaire covering safety, diversity, inclusion, and communication climate measures. Cluster analysis was performed to identify clusters of departments with different climate patterns and their impact on safety compliance and safety participation behaviors. Subsequently, a hierarchical multiple linear regression was conducted at the individual-level to test the effect of climate patterns, by controlling for some sociodemographic variables. Results: Results showed the existence of four differentiated clusters of departments. Three of those clusters showed homogenous patterns (coherent association among perceptions of low, medium and high climates) and one heterogeneous (low and medium perceptions). The findings also revealed that the higher the climates perceptions, the higher the levels of safety participation and safety compliance, with safety participation being more affected than compliance. Conclusions: The present research showed the associated effects of some organizational climate factors, such as fair treatment, inclusion, safety and communication within the organization, which had not been previously studied in their combined relationships, on safety behaviors. Practical applications: Several other organizational climate factors, such as fair treatment, inclusiveness and communication, may play an important role in safety, showing the importance of broadening the focus on safety climate as one of the main predictors of safety behaviors.     

Influences on safety consciousness in a utility company: A sequential mediation model

Introduction: The purpose of this research was to determine whether the influence of supervisory support for safety on safety consciousness is direct or indirect. Based in part on predictions from the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), we examined the extent to which belief (safety self-efficacy) and attitude (cavalier safety attitude) mediate the impact of supervisory support for safety on employee safety consciousness. Method: A survey of 995 employees was distributed across 24 work groups in an electric utility company, and sequential mediation modeling was used to determine indirect effects on safety consciousness. Results: We found that the effect of supervisory support on safety consciousness was indirect, fully mediated through both efficacy and attitude in a sequential mediation model. Practical applications: Supervisors should be aware of and emphasize supportive behaviors and create welcoming conditions for employees to raise safety concerns. Furthermore, organizational programs pertaining to safety improvement need to consider how to develop positive beliefs regarding safety activity and attitudes and reduce negative ones.