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.     

Transport company safety climate—The impact on truck driver behavior and crash involvement

Objective: The present study investigated the relationships between safety climate and driving behavior and crash involvement.

Methods: A total of 339 company-employed truck drivers completed a questionnaire that measured their perceptions of safety climate, crash record, speed choice, and aberrant driving behaviors (errors, lapses, and violations).

Results: Although there was no direct relationship between the drivers' perceptions of safety climate and crash involvement, safety climate was a significant predictor of engagement in risky driving behaviors, which were in turn predictive of crash involvement.

Conclusions: This research shows that safety climate may offer an important starting point for interventions aimed at reducing risky driving behavior and thus fewer vehicle collisions.     

Leading indicators of system safety – Monitoring and driving the organizational safety potential

An indicator can be considered any measure – quantitative or qualitative – that seeks to produce information on an issue of interest. Safety indicators can play a key role in providing information on organizational performance, motivating people to work on safety and increasing organizational potential for safety. We will describe the challenges of monitoring and driving system safety. Currently, the same lead indicators are used – explicitly or implicitly – for both purposes. The fact that the selection and use of safety performance indicators is always based on a certain understanding (a model) of the sociotechnical system and safety is often forgotten. We present a theoretical framework for utilizing safety performance indicators in safety–critical organizations that incorporates three types of safety performance indicators – outcome, monitor and drive indicators. We provide examples of each type of indicator and discuss the application of the framework in organizational safety management. We argue that outcome indicators are lag indicators since outcomes always follow something; they are the consequences arising from multiple other situational and contextual factors. Monitor and drive indicators are lead indicators. The main function of the drive indicators is to direct the sociotechnical activity in the organization by motivating certain safety-related activities. Monitor indicators provide a view on the dynamics of the organization: the practices, abilities, skills and motivation of the personnel – the organizational potential for safety. We conclude that organizations should better acknowledge the significance of monitor and drive indicators in safety management.     

Should 'Cyrus the Centipede' take a hike? Effects of exposure to a pedestrian safety program on children's safety knowledge and self-reported behaviors

INTRODUCTION: We report the first evaluation of the popular "Cyrus the Centipede" child pedestrian safety program. METHOD: A pre-test/post-test control versus experimental condition design was used to assess Cyrus' impact on third graders' pedestrian safety knowledge, and self-reported pedestrian behaviors. RESULTS: Although some beneficial effects were observed, the program was not reliably effective. In particular, the impact of exposure to Cyrus was strongly influenced by the individual teacher who delivered it, likely due to the highly unstructured nature of the curriculum. SUMMARY: We suggest that: (a) the effectiveness and reliability of such programs be demonstrated before they are widely adopted; and (b) programs that focus on training children in actual or simulated traffic environments may be more effective than those that primarily focus on teaching safety facts and rules.     

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.     

Does safety climate moderate the influence of staffing adequacy and work conditions on nurse injuries?

PROBLEM: Hospital nurses have one of the highest work-related injury rates in the United States. Yet, approaches to improving employee safety have generally focused on attempts to modify individual behavior through enforced compliance with safety rules and mandatory participation in safety training. We examined a theoretical model that investigated the impact on nurse injuries (back injuries and needlesticks) of critical structural variables (staffing adequacy, work engagement, and work conditions) and further tested whether safety climate moderated these effects. METHOD: A longitudinal, non-experimental, organizational study, conducted in 281 medical-surgical units in 143 general acute care hospitals in the United States. RESULTS: Work engagement and work conditions were positively related to safety climate, but not directly to nurse back injuries or needlesticks. Safety climate moderated the relationship between work engagement and needlesticks, while safety climate moderated the effect of work conditions on both needlesticks and back injuries, although in unexpected ways. DISCUSSION AND IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Our findings suggest that positive work engagement and work conditions contribute to enhanced safety climate and can reduce nurse injuries.     

Dustiness in workplace safety and explosion protection – Review and outlook

Behavior of dust/air mixtures is very complex and difficult to predict since it depends on material properties as well as boundary conditions. Without other influences airborne particles deposit due to gravity but the time it takes for total deposition as well as easiness of resurrection depends very much on the specific dust sample and the boundary conditions. It still lacks a complete understanding of all interacting reasons and one approach is using experimentally determined characteristics, one is named dustiness.Dustiness is the tendency of dust to form clouds and to stay airborne. Dustiness is determined with two basic principles, which are light attenuation and ratio of filled-in and measured mass. Assessment of dustiness of industrial powders has been done for a long time regarding work place safety. Dustiness is used there to determine inhalable fraction and to evaluate health risks. Lately it became interesting in dust explosion protection as well. Dustiness could be used to optimize determination of zones, adaption of venting area and/or for positioning of suppression systems.Dustiness can be useful in many ways but is not a physical property of dusts, therefore it depends on material properties such as density, particle size distribution, shape and water content as well as boundary conditions or determination method. This makes it very difficult to compare dustiness for different techniques and apparatuses and determination method as well as results should be considered carefully. This work gives an overview of existing standards, recent research and suggests improvements to the new dustiness as proposed for dust explosion protection.     

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 relationship between patient safety climate and occupational safety climate in healthcare – A multi-level investigation

IntroductionPatient safety climate/culture is attracting increasing research interest, but there is little research on its relation with organizational climates regarding other target domains.The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between patient safety climate and occupational safety climate in healthcare.MethodThe climates were assessed using two questionnaires: Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture and Nordic Occupational Safety Climate Questionnaire. The final sample consisted of 1154 nurses, 886 assistant nurses, and 324 physicians, organized in 150 work units, within hospitals (117 units), primary healthcare (5 units) and elderly care (28 units) in western Sweden, which represented 56% of the original sample contacted.ResultsWithin each type of safety climate, two global dimensions were confirmed in a higher order factor analysis; one with an external focus relative the own unit, and one with an internal focus. Two methods were used to estimate the covariation between the global climate dimensions, in order to minimize the influence of bias from common method variance. First multilevel analysis was used for partitioning variances and covariances in a within unit part (individual level) and a between unit part (unit level). Second, a split sample technique was used to calculate unit level correlations based on aggregated observations from different respondents. Both methods showed associations similar in strength between the patient safety climate and the occupational safety climate domains.ConclusionsThe results indicated that patient safety climate and occupational safety climate are strongly positively related at the unit level, and that the same organizational processes may be important for the development of both types of organizational climate.Practical applicationsSafety improvement interventions should not be separated in different organizational processes, but be planned so that both patient safety and staff safety are considered concomitantly.     

Self-directed workteams and safety: a winning combination?

The organization of work into self-directed work teams (SDWT) has considerably changed the power structure within companies. In addition to carrying out the work, SDWT members make decisions that are traditionally the jurisdiction of first line supervisors. This exploratory research examines the impact of this type of group empowerment on the management of health and safety in twelve factories in Quebec. As expected, the management of health and safety is greatly modified when self-directed work teams are implemented. These teams play a major role in the planning, implementation and monitoring of corrective measures on the shop floor. Staff and management provide support and advice to the work teams, but make fewer and fewer decisions themselves. Peer pressure, when perceived as legitimate, is likely to positively influence the safety attitudes and behaviours of team members. Furthermore, the safety performance of these organizations is actually better than average. However, our respondents were concerned about the growing lack of health and safety leadership displayed by some managers. They worry about the definition of roles, integration of occupational health and safety (OHS) concerns and adoption of OHS measures by less mature work teams. Peer pressure is not always seen as legitimate, thereby causing tension. Finally, our respondents were concerned about the stress and health difficulties that may be related to group decision-making and added responsibilities.     

The insurance market’s influence on investments in safety measures

In a risky process there are three alternative ways to treat the negative consequences of the risk or the accident. We can: (1) take all the consequences when an accidental event occurs, (2) reduce the probability and/or the consequences of an accidental event by safety measures or (3) transfer the consequences of the occurrence to parties better able to carry them (i.e. buying insurance). In safety management a prevailing practice is that access to an insurance market does not affect the investment in safety measures. In this paper we discuss what the consequences are of this common practice in relation to insurance and mandatory safety requirements. We conclude that an overinvestment in safety measures is very likely if insurance is not taken into account. Moreover, mandatory safety measures and insurance can lead to both over- and underinvestment in safety measures.     

Educational status and organizational safety climate: Does educational attainment influence workers’ perceptions of workplace safety?

From a practical perspective, understanding the impact of education on perceptions of workplace safety would benefit management’s decisions regarding workers’ adaptability, general work effectiveness, accident frequency, implementation of safety management policies, and handling of education-related accident characteristics. The current study thus examined the relationship between educational attainment and (i) safety perception, (ii) job satisfaction, (iii) compliance with safety management policies, and (iv) accident frequency. Participants were Ghanaian industrial workers (N = 320) categorized into four educational groups based on their responses: basic education 50% (n = 159); secondary education, n = 98 (30%); vocational/professional education, 17% (n = 56); and university education, 3% (n = 7). Workplace safety perception was assessed with Hayes et al.’s 50-item Work Safety Scale (WSS): a scale that effectively captures the dimensions identified by safety experts to influence perceptions of workplace safety. Multivariate analysis (MANOVA) was used to test for differences of statistical significance. Posterior comparison with t-test consistently revealed significant differences between the two higher-educated cohorts and their lower-educated counterparts. The results indicated a positive association between education and safety perception. Higher-educated workers recorded the best perceptions on safety, indicated the highest level of job satisfaction, were the most compliant with safety procedures and recorded the lowest accident involvement rate.     

Trust and distrust in safety leadership: Mirror reflections?

Although research shows that employees’ trust and distrust in management influences their safety behavior, less is known about how these attitudes develop. Based on two-factor models of trust, we hypothesize that distinct trustworthiness qualities precede the development of employees’ trust and distrust in their supervisors. Eighty-five UK construction employees responded to a paired comparison test of trustworthiness qualities, which provided 56 and 53 consistent rankings for trust and distrust, respectively. Consistent with our hypotheses, integrity (measured through honesty) was found to be the most important attitude in the development of both trust and distrust, while a reversed ordering of importance emerged for ability (measured through competence) and benevolence (measured through concern) in the development of trust and distrust. In all cases, only a small number of qualities were most important in the development of each attitude. We discuss how safety initiatives that focus on trust might gain by addressing the qualities that we identify.     

Strengthening road safety strategy development ‘Towards Zero’ 2008–2020 – Western Australia’s experience scientific research on road safety management SWOV workshop 16 and 17 November 2009

With a significant list of achievements in traffic safety over some 40 years, Australia’s most successful initiatives have emerged from consideration of the scientific basis for achieving effective results. Over time, the increasing use of scientific methods has matured to an extent whereby road safety strategies for entire jurisdictions are now being formed and optimised on the basis of evidence-based mathematical modelling of predicted strategy performance over periods of ten or more years ahead. This paper describes the approach used in the State of Western Australia (WA) to support the development of its new strategy, ‘Towards Zero’, addressing the 12-year period from 2008 to 2020. Also described is the early development of the modelling approach in the State of Victoria, Australia, subsequently applied, refined and adapted to Western Australia. The ‘Towards Zero’ strategy aims to ensure that road safety policies continue to evolve within a strategic framework, based on Australasia’s Safe System framework, which was derived from the best elements of the Swedish Vision Zero and the Dutch Sustainable Safety visions.The process for the development of the strategy involved a greater degree of community and stakeholder engagement than has been the case previously, based on the fundamental belief that the community should be provided with the best evidence about what works no matter how controversial, so that it can debate and consider the options available to improve safety.It is equally important to have a strategy based on the best possible evidence. The Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) was appointed by the WA Office of Road Safety to identify, describe and recommend proven counter-measures within the Safe System framework and develop a series of scientifically sound directions and options.This paper outlines the modelling technique used by MUARC along with results and summarises the community consultation process.     

Affluence,occupational safety and ergonomics: are they interdependent?

The number of fatal occupational injuries (FOI), the number of scientific publications in ergonomics (SP) and the gross domestic product (GDP) of 30 countries were investigated for their mutual dependence. This article shows that, although the ratio of FOI/SP decreases exponentially with a linear increase in the GDP, GDP may be only one of the major influencing factors.     

Consideration on safety for emerging technology – Case studies of seven service robots

Despite the fact that several manufacturers of service robots launched their innovations into the market, worldwide guidelines or regulations concerning the safety aspects of service robots are not yet available. However the general principles and methodologies of safety of machinery (e.g., ISO/IEC Guide 51, partly ISO14121, ISO12100) could be implemented to a certain degree. The safety of seven service robots as an emerging technology was verified by safety professionals of “NPO – the Safety Engineering Laboratory” a Non Profit Organization. NPO verified the “Critical Hazards” for each service robot mentioned by the respective manufacturers. For those cases, both the “As Low As Reasonably Practicable” principle and the “Reasonable Alternative Design” standard were applied for judging if the risk associated with the Critical Hazards were tolerable or not and if state of the art measures for reducing the risk were applied adequately. These experiences will help to establish guidelines for the safety of service robots as an emerging technology in the future.     

Product safety – Principles and practices in a life cycle perspective

This article describes a new product life cycle model that can be used by producers to improve safety and to prevent defective products from being placed on the market. The model has eight phases and the article describes and discusses the required safety-related issues in each phase. Analytical methods that should be used in the various phases are identified. Both consumer and industrial products are covered. The article outlines main product safety requirements with focus on European product safety legislation. The concept adequate safety is introduced as an acceptance criterion for the producer during the product development process, and factors that should be taken into account when deciding whether or not a product has adequate safety are discussed.     

Are automatic systems the future of motorcycle safety? A novel methodology to prioritize potential safety solutions based on their projected effectiveness

Objective: Motorcycle riders are involved in significantly more crashes per kilometer driven than passenger car drivers. Nonetheless, the development and implementation of motorcycle safety systems lags far behind that of passenger cars. This research addresses the identification of the most effective motorcycle safety solutions in the context of different countries.

Methods: A knowledge-based system of motorcycle safety (KBMS) was developed to assess the potential for various safety solutions to mitigate or avoid motorcycle crashes. First, a set of 26 common crash scenarios was identified from the analysis of multiple crash databases. Second, the relative effectiveness of 10 safety solutions was assessed for the 26 crash scenarios by a panel of experts. Third, relevant information about crashes was used to weigh the importance of each crash scenario in the region studied. The KBMS method was applied with an Italian database, with a total of more than 1 million motorcycle crashes in the period 2000–2012.

Results: When applied to the Italian context, the KBMS suggested that automatic systems designed to compensate for riders' or drivers' errors of commission or omission are the potentially most effective safety solution. The KBMS method showed an effective way to compare the potential of various safety solutions, through a scored list with the expected effectiveness of each safety solution for the region to which the crash data belong. A comparison of our results with a previous study that attempted a systematic prioritization of safety systems for motorcycles (PISa project) showed an encouraging agreement.

Conclusions: Current results revealed that automatic systems have the greatest potential to improve motorcycle safety. Accumulating and encoding expertise in crash analysis from a range of disciplines into a scalable and reusable analytical tool, as proposed with the use of KBMS, has the potential to guide research and development of effective safety systems. As the expert assessment of the crash scenarios is decoupled from the regional crash database, the expert assessment may be reutilized, thereby allowing rapid reanalysis when new crash data become available. In addition, the KBMS methodology has potential application to injury forecasting, driver/rider training strategies, and redesign of existing road infrastructure.