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.     

Cross-cultural comparisons of traffic safety,risk perception,attitudes and behaviour

The core aim of the present study is to examine cultural differences in risk perception and attitudes towards traffic safety and risk, taking behaviour in the Norwegian and the Ghanaian public. An additional aim is to discuss the applicability of various traffic measures, suited for low and middle income countries in Africa.Sample: The results of the present study are based on two self-completion questionnaire surveys carried out in February and March 2006. The first was a representative sample of the Norwegian public above 18 years of age (N = 247). The second was a stratified sample of Ghanaian respondents (N = 299). In Ghana the data was collected in Accra and Cape Coast.The results showed that there is potential for further improvement of safety attitudes and risk behaviour among Ghanaians as well as Norwegians. There were also differences in the respondents’ evaluation of attitudes, risk perception and behaviour. Perceived risk and attitudes also significantly predicted risk behaviour and accidents/collisions. The implications of these results for traffic safety will be discussed.     

Associations between risk perception and safety

The relationship between perception of risk and involvement in accidents is receiving increasing attention in the offshore oil industry. A self-completion questionnaire survey was carried out among employees on twelve offshore oil installations in 1994.¹ The number of respondents were 1138. Employee evaluations of the status of safety and contingency measures were affected by physical working conditions, attitudes towards safety and accident prevention work as well as management commitment and involvement in safety promotion. These factors were also related to job stress, perceived risk and risk behaviour. There was a significant positive correlation between perceived risk and risk behaviour, but risk perception was not found to predict risk behaviour. Risk behaviour affected accidents as well as near-misses. The possibility that safety cannot be improved by changing individual risk perception is discussed.     

Don't wait for accidents — possibilities to assess risk in traffic by applying the ‘Wiener Fahrprobe’

In Vienna during more than 10 years of research work a special traffic behaviour observation method has been developed, evaluated and applied by Risser et al. in the frame of many different traffic safety projects. Car drivers are accompanied by two observers who register not only errors in behaviour of drivers but also their communication and interaction with other road users. Malfunction of communication and interaction are judged as main sources for problems for danger in traffic. For example, if they lead to a bad traffic climate fealings of discomfort, anger and frustration will prevent cooperative actions of road users. Being able to recognize such negative or dangerous interaction patterns in time it seems to be easier to protect road users — most often the ‘unprotected’ ones — from getting involved in accidents. This contribution gives an impression about theory and practice of the observation method and shows results of different studies, where the method called ‘Wiener Fahrprobe’ has been applied. Furthermore it will show how the method and its results can be used in the frame of the European traffic (safety) research projects ‘PROMETHEUS’ and ‘DRIVE’. Till now no accident data exist in respect to new RTI systems. Therefore it seems to be important to have a sophisticated social-psychological method for testing the behaviour and interaction of road users in connection with these systems. This is a necessary prediction for deciding whether the systems are socially compatible or not.     

Measuring safety climate: identifying the common features

In UK industry, particularly in the energy sector, there has been a movement away from ‘lagging’ measures of safety based on retrospective data, such as lost time accidents and incidents, towards ‘leading’ or predictive assessments of the safety climate of the organisation or worksite. A number of different instruments have been developed by industrial psychologists for this purpose, resulting in a proliferation of scales with distinct developmental histories. Reviewing the methods and results from a sample of industrial surveys, the thematic basis of 18 scales used to assess safety climate is examined. This suggests that the most typically assessed dimensions relate to management (72% of studies), the safety system (67%), and risk (67%), in addition themes relating to work pressure and competence appear in a third of the studies.     

Associations between driver training, determinants of risky driving behaviour and crash involvement

The core aim of the study is to examine associations between formal and informal practical driver training as well as driving experience on the one hand and young drivers’ safety attitudes, self-assessment of driving ability and self-reported driver behaviour on the other hand. An additional aim is to examine the associations between attitudes, self-assessment and behaviour on the one hand and crash involvement on the other hand. The results are based on a self-completion questionnaire survey conducted among a representative sample of Norwegian drivers aged 18–20 years (n = 1419). The results showed that there were small yet significant associations between driver training, on the one hand and traffic safety attitudes and risky driving behaviour on the other hand. The amount of formal driver training was negatively associated with the respondents’ evaluation of their driving skills; although the amount of lay instruction was positively associated with such self-evaluation. The results also showed that attitudes as well as self-assessment of driving ability were significantly associated with self-reported risk behaviour. This was especially true for attitudes related to rule violations. There was a strong association between crash involvement and exposure (measured as months holding a licence). Young novice drivers’ crash involvement seems stronger associated with driving skills (manifested as self-assessment of driving ability) than safety attitudes and self-reported driver behaviour. The consequences of the results for driver training and accident prevention are discussed.     

National culture and safe work behaviour of construction workers in Pakistan

It is widely accepted that unsafe behaviour is intrinsically linked to workplace accidents. A positive correlation exists between workers’ safe behaviour and safety climate on construction sites. Construction workers’ attitude towards safety is influenced by their perception of risk, management, safety rules and procedures. Pakistan, a developing country, is currently experiencing a strong growth in its construction activities. Unfortunately, the enforcement of safety regulations in Pakistan is not widespread. Indeed, some relevant regulations are both outdated and irrelevant to daily construction operations. This paper investigates local construction workers’ behaviour, perception and attitude toward safety, and attempts to link the research findings to the influence of national culture. A three-part interview-based questionnaire survey has identified that the majority of workers have a good degree of risk awareness and self-rated competence. Additionally, workers’ intentional behaviour was empirically explained by their attitudes towards their own and management’s safety responsibilities, as well as their perception of the risk they are generally exposed to in their workplace. The paper also reveals that workers operating in a more collective and higher uncertainty avoidance environment, are more likely to have safety awareness and beliefs, which can exhibit safer on-site behaviour.     

Personality,attitudes and risk perception as predictors of risky driving behaviour among young drivers

Within psychology, different research traditions have attempted to explain individual differences in risky driving behaviour and traffic accident involvement. The present study attempts to integrate two of these research traditions, the personality trait approach and the social cognition approach, in order to understand the mechanisms underlying young drivers' risk-taking behaviour in traffic. The study was based on a self-completion questionnaire survey carried out among 1932 adolescents in Norway. The questionnaire included measures of risk perception, attitudes towards traffic safety and self-reported risk-taking in traffic. Personality measures included aggression, altruism, anxiety and normlessness. The results of a structural equation model suggested that the relation between the personality traits and risky driving behaviour was mediated through attitudes. On this basis it was concluded that personality primarily influences risky driving behaviour indirectly through affecting the attitudinal determinants of the behaviour. Practical implications for traffic safety campaigns are also discussed.     

Risk perception and driving behaviour among adolescents in two Norwegian counties before and after a traffic safety campaign

A campaign to promote safe driving behaviour has been carried out among adolescents in two Norwegian counties since 1998. It focused on traffic accident risk perception. The aims of the present paper are to present the results of the evaluation of the effect of the campaign and to examine the association between risk perception and traffic behaviour. A representative sample of adolescents aged 18–24 years old in the two Norwegian counties participating in the campaign (experimental group), as well as a control group of adolescents in two other counties not participating in the campaign were used. Data were collected before it started in October 1998 and also after the campaign (n=4376). The pre-and post-samples consisted of independent groups of respondents. The response rate was 93%. The respondents perceived the risk to be higher after the campaign than before. The respondents of the post-sample of the experimental group also reported less risk behaviour in traffic. The number of speeding accidents was also reduced. Perceived risk was not changed among adolescents in the control group. Neither were there any changes in self-report risk behaviour. The questionnaire measured cognition-based as well as emotion-based risk perception. Model tests showed that assessments of the probability of traffic accidents and concern were non-significant predictors for self-report risk behaviour. Worry and other emotional reactions related to traffic hazards significantly predicted behaviour. Sensation seeking, normlessness (i.e. a state where social norms no longer regulate behaviour), and indifference with regard to traffic safety affected emotion-based risk perception.     

Determinants of safety priorities in transport – The effect of personality,worry, optimism,attitudes and willingness to pay

Much research within risk has investigated risk perception and how risk behaviour is understood by the public. One goal of risk research is to understand how people perceive and interpret risk to facilitate safe behaviour. This is seen as important for many different reasons, one being because policy measures might be more effective when they address and understand individual differences in beliefs and perceptions of a target group (Steg, L., Sievers, I., 2000. Cultural theory and individual perceptions of environmental risks. Environment and Behavior 32 (2), 250–269). The main aim of this study was to investigate what is most important in regard to safety priorities. Three personality assets – anxiety, excitement-seeking and trust – were first examined. Further factors were driver optimism, worrying about transport risks, willingness to pay to increase safety, and negative attitudes toward traffic rules (as a driver). The results are based upon two questionnaire surveys carried out among a representative sample of the Norwegian public in 2004. The results showed that worry was the most important predictor of safety priorities. In addition, negative attitudes towards rules were also found to have an impact on priority. The proposed model explained 44% of the variance of safety priority. This knowledge gives additional information to improve the success of interventions because it will develop the ability to target those who consider safety to be of low priority and guide them to modify their attitudes. This may in turn increase their value of safety.     

The development of a measure of safety climate: The role of safety perceptions and attitudes

In understanding the safety climate or culture of a workplace, the perceptions and attitudes of the workforce are important factors in assessing safety needs. Safety solutions may fail if they do not take into account these prevailing attitudes and perceptions. Also, changes in attitudes and perceptions about safety are often likely outcomes of safety interventions. The aim of this study was to develop a measure of perception and attitudes about safety as an indicator of safety culture for use with working populations. After reviewing the structure and content of a number of older, related measures of safety attitudes, a 67-item questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was distributed in a self-administered form to 1560 workers in a wide variety of types of jobs and 660 questionnaires were returned from 7 workplaces with a response rate of 42%. Items were evaluated by Cronbach alpha which showed that the item set shared considerable common variance. Scale development was approached in two ways. First items which were highly skewed were removed, resulting in removal of around half of the items, with very little loss in alpha. The remaining items were then subjected to factor analysis which revealed five factors; personal motivation for safe behaviour, positive safety practice, risk justification, fatalism and optimism. This factor structure showed acceptable psychometric properties. Second, in an effort to produce a unidimensional scale with a small, but representative set of items, additional items were removed which had high correlation with other items. This resulted in loss of around half of the remaining items. The short scale contained 17 items with again overall acceptable psychometric properties. The most striking finding in the development of this questionnaire was that there was little variation between respondents on a very large proportion of the questions originally selected. Clearly there are well-known beliefs about safety in the working community which need to be understood in order to progress the concept of safety culture.     

金属矿山员工风险认知与安全行为的关系*

为探索金属矿山员工风险认知与安全行为之间的关系,选取金属矿山冒顶坍塌、中毒窒息和车辆伤害3类常见风险,从风险特征维度的视角提出研究假设。通过设计风险认知与安全行为量表开展调查,并对调查所获的397份问卷进行统计分析,利用相关分析、回归分析和中介效应对研究假设进行检验。研究结果表明:员工风险认知对安全行为有显著正向影响作用;风险熟悉度与员工风险认知存在显著正向关系,可用于表征员工风险认知;风险熟悉度对安全行为具有显著正向影响作用,且风险认知在这一过程中起部分中介作用;风险可控性和恐惧性在风险认知对安全行为作用过程中分别起负向调节和正向调节作用;风险自愿性仅对安全行为有直接的负向作用。     

Traffic culture as symbol exchange - A cross-country comparison of Russia and Norway

The core aim of the study was to gain insight into the cross-country differences in traffic risk perception and driving behaviour and also how culture and cultural differences may influence perceived risk and risk behaviour by comparing a sample of the Russian population with a sample of the Norwegian population. A new measurement instrument aimed at measuring culture as symbol exchange was applied. Self-completion questionnaire surveys were carried out among representative samples of the Norwegian (n = 247) and the Russian (n = 299) population aged 18 years and over. The results showed that culture defined as symbol exchange was weakly associated with risk perception. It is suggested that research carried out to date on the role of culture in risk research may have focused on criterion variables which are not very relevant. However, while traffic safety culture does not seem to be important for risk perception, this study shows that it seems to be relevant for drivers’ risk behaviour and thus it is still relevant and important to focus on traffic culture in risk research despite the fact that culture does not predict perceived risk. As symbol exchange, the newly developed measure of traffic safety culture is capable of predicting drivers’ risk behaviour in traffic and is therefore a valid predictor of traffic safety.     

A model of the air traffic controller's picture

This paper reviews the development of a model of the air traffic controller's mental image, ‘picture’, or situation awareness, used for controlling air traffic. The computerised model's development, origins and theoretical basis are outlined, and the model is described in some detail in the context of current air traffic operations. The model can be utilised to explore the potential impacts of future automation on the cognitive performance of the air traffic controller. The general potential contributions of the area of cognitive modelling to system design and training in accelerating industries such as air traffic control, are also discussed.     

A geographical perspective on driving attitudes and behaviour among young adults in urban and rural Norway

Studies have shown that the driver’s risk behaviour is a significant contributor to the difference in road traffic accident risk between urban and rural areas. The aim of the study is to achieve a better understanding of the relatively high risk for rural youths compared to urban youths. A cross-sectional survey with 484 drivers aged 19–24 years is used to compare self-reported risk behaviour in urban, peri-urban and rural areas. A stratified random sample was made to ensure respondents from different area types. The results show an urban–rural gradient in risk-taking behaviour. Attitudes towards road safety partly explain individual variation in risk behaviour; however, they fail to erase the urban–rural gradient. The findings suggest a complex interaction of the system risk (the road environment) and elements of risk-culture beyond road safety attitudes.     

The (affective) dispositional approach to job satisfaction: sorting out the policy implications

The dispositional approach to job attitudes has played an important role in refocusing attention in organizational behavior on person factors, in addition to situational factors, as determinants of job attitudes and behaviors. I focus on what have been suggested as policy implications of research on dispositions, in particular, research on affective dispositions. My reading of the evidence suggests that affective dispositional factors may be useful in employee selection, and I identify questions that need to be resolved for this case to be stronger. On the other hand, I find little in the way of logic or evidence to support the claim that dispositions constrain the success of situational interventions designed to improve employee attitudes (or behaviors). Consistent with recent developments in the personality literature and with arguments made by Gerhart and Davis‐Blake and Pfeffer in the organizational behavior literature, I show that within‐person consistency in attitudes and behaviors can coexist with mean level changes in attitudes and behaviors induced by situational changes in the workplace. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Safety climate dimensions,leader–member exchange,and organizational support as predictors of upward safety communication in a sample of rail industry workers

The freedom employees feel to communicate safety concerns with their supervisors, termed upward safety communication, has been shown to be related to adverse safety events (Hofmann and Morgeson, 1999). Research to date has demonstrated that good supervisor–employee relationships (leader–member exchange), a sense that the organization values an employee (perceived organizational support) and safety climate (including perceived management attitudes toward safety, job demands interfering with safety, and pressure from coworkers to behave safely) all contribute to employees’ comfort in bringing up safety issues with their supervisors. However, little is known about which specific dimensions of safety climate are most predictive of upward safety communication. Using a sample of 548 railway workers, we found that when all factors were considered simultaneously using dominance analysis, the dominant factor predicting upward safety communication was perceived management attitudes toward safety, followed by job demands interfering with safety and then leader–member exchange. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Effects of safety climate on safety norm violations: exploring the mediating role of attitudinal ambivalence toward personal protective equipment

Problem

Research on the role of organizational and psychosocial factors in influencing risk behaviors and the likelihood of injury at work showed that safety climate also has great impact on workers’ behavior. However, the mechanisms through which this impact operates are still partially unclear.

Method

In order to explore the role that attitudinal ambivalence toward wearing PPE might play in mediating the impact of safety climate on safety norm violations, a questionnaire was administered to 345 Italian workers.

Results

Three dimensions of safety climate (i.e., company safety concern, senior managers’ safety concern, supervisors’ attitudes towards safety) were found to be positively associated with the individual ambivalence level, whereas the fourth one (i.e., work pressure) was negatively correlated with it. In turn, low levels of ambivalence were associated with a lower tendency to break the safety norms, even though the perception of a good safety climate also maintained a direct effect on unsafe behaviors.

Impact on industry

Designers of training program for the prevention of work related injuries must pay great attention to the psycho-social factors (such as the effects of the safety climate perception by employees on their attitudes and behaviors), and include specific contents into the prevention programs in order to improve workers compliance with safety norms.     

Application of a predictive safety model in a combustion testing environment

A predictive safety model for accident prevention and system failure, called Continuous Hazard Tracking and Failure Prediction Methodology, is applied at the Marshall Space Flight Center's promoted combustion test chamber. It combines the underlying principles of work sampling, control charts, and multivariate analysis. The sampling is performed to observe the occurrence of conditions which may be becoming hazardous in a given system. These building blocks of hazards, which we have called dendritics, could result in an accident, system malfunction, or unacceptable risk conditions. The data collected is plotted to generate the appropriate control chart, which depends on the characteristics of the given system and the protection desired. Based on the pattern of the control chart, a system ‘under control’ is not disturbed whereas a system ‘out of control’ is investigated for potential conditions becoming hazardous. Then appropriate steps are taken to eliminate or control these conditions in order to maintain a desired safety status of the system. The continuously running characteristic of this model allows for the verification that the corrective measures taken to ameliorate the ‘out of control’ conditions were satisfactory or whether more proactive action is required. The results provided by the predictive model were validated with historical safety data.     

The role of risk perception and other risk-related judgements in transportation mode use

AimsThe core aim of the present study was to examine the role of risk perception in use of private and public modes of transportation. An additional aim was to examine the relative importance of perception of transport risks with risk perception of non-transport factors and also to investigate differences in worry, perceived control of transportation modes, as well as trust in authorities’ risk handling, safety motivation, and attitudes towards transport safety.SampleThe results are based on a mailed self-completion questionnaire survey carried out among a representative sample of the Norwegian public aged from 18 to 65 years (n = 1864). Data collection was carried out during October–December 2008.ResultsPerceived control related to private modes of transportation, knowledge about safety and trust in authorities were found to be significantly different among respondents who often used private modes of transportation compared to those who most often used public modes. It was no significant difference in severity of consequences due to which transport modes that the respondents used most frequently.ConclusionIt may be that conclusions of previous research about the role of consequence judgement for precautionary action and demand for risk reduction are misleading when generalised to decisions about transport mode use.