The predictive validity of safety climate

PROBLEM: Safety professionals have increasingly turned their attention to social science for insight into the causation of industrial accidents. One social construct, safety climate, has been examined by several researchers [Cooper, M. D., & Phillips, R. A. (2004). Exploratory analysis of the safety climate and safety behavior relationship. Journal of Safety Research, 35(5), 497-512; Gillen, M., Baltz, D., Gassel, M., Kirsch, L., & Vacarro, D. (2002). Perceived safety climate, job Demands, and coworker support among union and nonunion injured construction workers. Journal of Safety Research, 33(1), 33-51; Neal, A., & Griffin, M. A. (2002). Safety climate and safety behaviour. Australian Journal of Management, 27, 66-76; Zohar, D. (2000). A group-level model of safety climate: Testing the effect of group climate on microaccidents in manufacturing jobs. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(4), 587-596; Zohar, D., & Luria, G. (2005). A multilevel model of safety climate: Cross-level relationships between organization and group-level climates. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 616-628] who have documented its importance as a factor explaining the variation of safety-related outcomes (e.g., behavior, accidents). Researchers have developed instruments for measuring safety climate and have established some degree of psychometric reliability and validity. The problem, however, is that predictive validity has not been firmly established, which reduces the credibility of safety climate as a meaningful social construct. The research described in this article addresses this problem and provides additional support for safety climate as a viable construct and as a predictive indicator of safety-related outcomes. METHODS: This study used 292 employees at three locations of a heavy manufacturing organization to complete the 16 item Zohar Safety Climate Questionnaire (ZSCQ) [Zohar, D., & Luria, G. (2005). A multilevel model of safety climate: Cross-level relationships between organization and group-level climates. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 616-628]. In addition, safety behavior and accident experience data were collected for 5 months following the survey and were statistically analyzed (structural equation modeling, confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis, etc.) to identify correlations, associations, internal consistency, and factorial structures. RESULTS: Results revealed that the ZSCQ: (a) was psychometrically reliable and valid, (b) served as an effective predictor of safety-related outcomes (behavior and accident experience), and (c) could be trimmed to an 11 item survey with little loss of explanatory power. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Practitioners and researchers can use the ZSCQ with reasonable certainty of the questionnaire's reliability and validity. This provides a solid foundation for the development of meaningful organizational interventions and/or continued research into social factors affecting industrial accident experience.     

信效度在安全生产标准化元评估中的应用研究

安全生产标准化评审是根据一定的安全生产标准化评审目标和标准,通过系统地收集信息和科学分析,对企业安全生产标准化工作做出价值判断的过程。为了科学评估评审偏差和统一评审尺度,基于信效度理论,提出在评审单位和评审组织单位进行安全生产标准化元评估时,应用评审者信度和效标关联效度,研究安全生产标准化评审的可靠程度和有效程度;并以危险化学品从业单位安全生产标准化评审为例,从信效度的分析方法选择、信效度的计算和信效度的可接受度,全面探究信效度在安全生产标准化元评估中的实现方式。结果表明,应用信效度方法分析安全生产标准化评审的优势和不足,可以为安全生产标准化评审结果的客观评价提供依据。     

The construct validity of two burnout measures

The present study was carried out among a sample of 667 Dutch nurses and assesses three aspects of the construct validity of the two most widely used self-report burnout questionnaires: The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Burnout Measure (BM). Although the factorial validity of the three-dimensional structure of the MBI was convincingly demonstrated by confirmatory factor analysis with LISREL, four weak and ambiguous items were identified. Regarding the BM, some doubts have arisen about its one-dimensionality. The congruent validity of the questionnaires was well established: They both refer to the core element of the burnout syndrome (i.e. exhaustion). Moreover, linear structural analyses suggested that burnout is a two multi-dimensional construct consisting of an affective component (i.e. exhaustion) and an attitudinal component (i.e. a negative attitude towards recipients and towards one's job performance). However, the discriminant validity of the first component is rather poor since it considerably overlaps with self-reported somatic complaints and psychological strain. It is concluded that the MBI can be employed as a reliable and valid multi-dimensional indicator of burnout in professionals who work with people. The BM assesses the non-specific affective component of burnout (i.e. exhaustion) and should therefore be supplemented by a scale that measures the attitudinal component of the syndrome.     

The nomological and predictive validity of time urgency

The present study developed a nomological network that theoretically linked time urgency to related variables. To test the proposed relationships, time urgency, achievement strivings (AS), and impatience/irritability (II) were utilized as predictors of health and performance 18 months later. Multivariate canonical correlation analyses provided support for a complex nomological network among the predictors and the outcome measures. Redundancy coefficients and a rotated structure matrix were employed to identify two significant dimensions, labeled crammers and organizers, that linked the predictors with the outcome measures. The results also indicated that the time urgency subcomponents were differentially related to several health outcomes. These findings provide further validity evidence for the time urgency construct, and they suggest that time urgency variables should be considered as important predictors of both health and performance outcomes. Directions for future research on time urgency are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The validity of situational interviews for administrative jobs

This study was conducted to determine the validity of situational interviews for making predictions of ratings of job performance and potential. The validation sample consisted of 63 candidates. The correlations of potential and performance with situational interview scores were statistically significant and both predictor and criterion measures showed acceptable levels of reliability. The study provides additional evidence on the validity of situational interviews in a new job family, i.e. administrative jobs in a large U.K. financial services organization. The discussion questions the extent to which situational interviews provide unique or overlapping predictive validity when compared with mental ability tests.     

The role of turbulence in the validity of the cubic relationship

The effect of turbulence on unsteady premixed flame propagation and associated pressure rise during explosion of stoichiometric CH₄/air in closed spherical vessels of different size was investigated by means of CFD simulation. Computations were run by varying the vessel volume from 20 l to 200 l and to 1 m³.Numerical results have shown that, at fixed initial conditions, the turbulence kinetic energy induced by the propagating flame increases with increasing vessel volume. It has been demonstrated that the cubic relationship does not apply. Under the conditions investigated, a correction to the cubic relationship has been proposed to take into account the effect of the vessel volume on turbulence.     

Developing a Questionnaire for Measuring Safety Climate in the Workplace in Serbia

This study was conducted because a real method for measuring safety climate had never been developed and assessed in Serbian industry. The aim of this paper was to start the process of developing a safety climate questionnaire that could be used in Serbia. As a starting point a 21-item questionnaire was adopted after an extensive literature review. The questionnaire was distributed at several Serbian factories; 1098 workers responded. After a statistical analysis of the data obtained with the questionnaire and a critical comparison with the available reference results, a final questionnaire with 21 questions, divided into 7 groups, was developed. The 7 groups of questions (factors) were safety awareness and competence, safety communication, organizational environment, management support, risk judgment and management reaction, safety precautions and accident prevention, and safety training.     

影响危险化学品生产企业安全评价有效性的因素探讨

随着化学工业的迅速发展,化学品的产量和品种大幅增加,危险化学品生产企业各类事故频发,严重阻碍了化学工业的发展.为此,国家制定了一系列的法律法规,以期遏制恶性事故的发生.安全评价作为预防事故的重要手段,现已广泛应用于各个行业,危险化学品生产企业也不例外.但是,随着安全评价工作的开展,也暴露出与安全评价有关的一些问题.本文简要介绍了我国危险化学品生产企业的安全现状,详细分析了影响危险化学品生产企业安全评价有效性的各种因素,并提出了相应的对策措施.     

The measurement of job characteristics: A content and contextual analytic look at scale validity

This investigation provides an examination of the validity of the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) and the Job Characteristics Inventory (JCI). The verbal content of the two measure is examined, as are the contrasts between the verbal content of these scales and the verbal content of three popular measures of job satisfaction. The Minnesota Contextual Content Analysis program is used to examine the ideas emphasized by these research scales. Both measures of job characteristics were found to discriminate from certain measures of job satisfaction, to emphasize an instrumental and not an affective context, and to possess some internal dimensionality problems.     

The validity of a low-cost simulator for the assessment of the effects of in-vehicle information systems

This study explored the validity of using a low-cost simulator for the assessment of driver distraction arising from the use of an in-vehicle information system. Eighteen participants drove on a rural road whilst carrying out distractor tasks of various levels of difficulty, in both a low-cost simulator (with gaming console steering wheel and pedals with single monitor display) and a medium-cost one (fixed-base, complete vehicle cab, wrap-around visuals). The distractor tasks were presented at identical locations in each of the drives and an identical suite of driver performance and subjective rating measures were elicited to allow a robust comparison between the two simulator environments. As expected, there was a reduction in mean speed when drivers were completing the distraction tasks and this effect was observed in both simulators. However, drivers spent more time at shorter headways in the low-cost version and demonstrated more erratic steering behaviour in the low-cost version. This could be due to a reduced peripheral view and inferior kinaesthetic feedback through the driver controls, but low-cost simulators could play a significant role in the early stages of design and evaluation of in-vehicle information systems.     

Reliability and validity of aggressive driving measures in China

The present research was designed to examine the psychometric properties of Chinese versions of the Self Report Driver Behavior Aggression and Assertiveness subscales, the Driving Vengeance Questionnaire, and the Violent Driving Questionnaire. Study 1 found that the all scales demonstrated good internal consistency, with alphas ranging from .76 to .87 and that assertive driving was related to demerit points received over the past 12 months while driver aggression and violence were linked to collisions over the past 12 months. Study 2 found that the scales exhibited reasonable test-retest reliability, with correlations ranging from .82 to .89. Finally, Study 3 showed that each scale was predicted by other dangerous driving attitudes and behaviors, similar to the original versions. The consistency between the translated and original scales, the implications for use in a Chinese sample, and the uniformity of actions in the traffic environment across cultures are discussed.     

自然资源价值论及其在环境影响评价中的应用

对自然资源价值理论进行了论述,运用环境经济学方法分析了现行环境影响评价之不足,提出应用自然资源价值对环境损益进行定量分析,是提高环境影响评价有效性的必然途径.最后介绍了自然资源的价值评价方法.     

A process model of employee engagement: The learning climate and its relationship with extra‐role performance behaviors

Employee engagement has recently been introduced as a concept advantageous to organizations. However, little is known about the value of employee engagement in explaining work performance behaviors compared with similar concepts. The learning climate, defined as the organization's beneficial activities in helping employees create, acquire, and transfer knowledge, has also been proposed as an antecedent of employee engagement. Using data from a sample of 625 employees and their supervisors in various occupations and organizations throughout Israel, we investigated employee engagement as a key mechanism for explaining the relationship between perceptions of the organization's learning climate and employees' proactivity, knowledge sharing, creativity, and adaptivity. We also tested whether employee engagement explained the relationship more thoroughly than similar concepts such as job satisfaction and job involvement. Multilevel regression analyses supported our hypotheses that employee engagement mediates the relationship between the perceived learning climate and these extra‐role behaviors. Moreover, engagement provides a more thorough explanation than job satisfaction or job involvement for these relationships. The implications for organizational theory, research, and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

化工工艺设施安全联锁有效性评价

在化工生产系统中,工艺设施安全联锁主要在DCS控制下得以实现,对化工工程安全联锁装置进行安全验收评价主要是对DCS有效性进行评价,是系统工程中技术含量较高的部分.化工工艺设施安全联锁装置具有隐蔽性、程序复杂、动作迅速、灵敏度高、电子元件和软件较多的特点,是计算机软件与设施设备硬件的合理匹配,辅之于人工操作和安全管理,从而提高本质化安全程度.在对化工工艺设施安全联锁装置进行安全评价的工作中,如何对工艺设施安全联锁的有效性进行评价,是化工工程安全验收评价需要研究的重要课题.     

Assessing the construct validity and utility of two new influence tactics

Progress in developing theories of interpersonal influence depends on the identification of meaningful and measurable constructs for classifying influence behavior. We assessed the construct validity and relative effectiveness of two new influence tactics with a field survey study, an incident study, and a laboratory experiment. The confirmatory factor analysis of data from the survey study indicated that collaboration and apprising were distinct from nine proactive tactics identified in earlier research. Additional evidence for construct validity was provided by a comparison of tactics in terms of expected differences in influence outcomes, frequency of use, and differential use with subordinates and peers. Managers who understand the differences among the tactics will be more effective in influencing people in organizations. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

安全管理学视阈下的安全标语研究

为增强安全标语在安全管理应用中的有效性,从安全管理学视角,提出安全标语的概念和功能,构建安全标语功能的伞状结构;从大安全角度,划分安全标语的类型;分析安全标语的传播过程,构建安全标语的传播模型和目视管理模型。结果表明:发挥安全管理功能是安全标语设置的最终目的,保证安全标语有效传播是其发挥安全管理功能的基本前提。指出安全标语创作及应用目前主要存在的问题,其应遵循内容健康,引导正确等基本要求,并应具有实用性等6种倾向。     

Reliability and validity of the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory in Chinese drivers

Objective: The Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory (MDSI) has been widely used in assessing the associations between driving styles and traffic violations and accidents in different cultural contexts. Due to the lack of a valid instrument to assess driving style, studies concerning driving style and its influence factors are limited in China. Thus, this study aimed to adapt and validate a Chinese version of the MDSI.

Methods: Seven hundred and sixty drivers aged from 19 to 60 years old were asked to complete the MDSI and a personality scale (trait anger, sensation seeking, altruism, and normlessness). Exploratory factory analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to obtain the factorial structure of the MDSI. The external validity of the MDSI was then evaluated by examining the associations between driving styles and personality traits, demographic variables, and traffic violations and crashes.

Results: EFA revealed a 6-factor structure of the MDSI (i.e., risky, anxious, angry, distress reduction, careful, and dissociative driving styles). CFA confirmed that the model fit of the MDSI was acceptable. The MDSI factors were moderately or weakly correlated with trait anger, sensation seeking, altruism, and normlessness. Significant gender and age differences in driving styles were found. Moreover, drivers who had traffic violations or crashes in the past year scored higher on risky and angry driving styles and lower on careful driving style than those who had not have traffic violations or crashes.

Conclusions: The Chinese version of the MDSI proved to be a reliable, valid, and highly useful instrument. It could be used to assess Chinese drivers who are at risk due to their maladaptive driving styles.     

企业员工不安全行为影响因素量表的初步开发

本文通过大量资料的搜集,概括出了影响员工不安全行为的众多因素,并根据他们的可控性进行了分类.在此理论研究的基础上,用调查问卷的方法,构建了企业员工不安全行为的影响因素量表,并通过spss16.0软件包对其进行因素分析,检验量表的效度和信度,最终形成了四个企业员工不安全行为影响因素正式量表.其中包括:企业员工不安全行为个人安全素质影响因素量表、企业员工不安全行为领导影响因素量表、企业员工不安全行为组织影响因素量表和企业员工不安全行为工作内容和环境影响因素量表.此外,本文还对中交天航第五经理部的施工人员进行了实证研究,用spss16.0软件包对搜集到的数据进行分析,包括:各量表中包含的题项的内部分析、四个量表中所有题项的整体分析和每个量表中的群体差异性分析,并在以上分析的基础上,最终得出了该企业对员工不安全行为影响因素的管理现状.