The development and validation of a psychological contract of safety scale

Introduction

This paper builds on previous research by the author and describes the development and validation of a new measure of the psychological contract of safety. The psychological contract of safety is defined as the beliefs of individuals about reciprocal safety obligations inferred from implicit and explicit promises.

Method

A psychological contract is established when an individual believes that perceived employer and employee safety obligations are contingent on each other. A pilot test of the measure is first undertaken with participants from three different occupations: nurses, construction workers, and meat processing workers (N = 99). Item analysis is used to refine the measure and provide initial validation of the scale. A larger validation study is then conducted with a participant sample of health care workers (N = 424) to further refine the measure and to determine the psychometric properties of the scale.

Results

Item and correlational analyses produced the final employer and employee obligations scales, consisting of 21 and 17 items, respectively. Factor analyses identified two underlying dimensions in each scale comparable to that previously established in the organizational literature. These transactional and relational-type obligations provided construct validity of the scale. Internal consistency ratings using Cronbach's alpha found the components of the psychological contract of safety measure to be reliable.

Impact on Industry

The refined and validated psychological contract of safety measure will allow investigation of the positive and negative outcomes associated with fulfilment and breach of the psychological contract of safety in future research.     

Evaluation and comparison of the Chinese policy context for safety-related psychological health in the workplace: Realities,gaps and challenges

Work-related psychological health problems have become a major challenge for occupational health and safety (OHS) management. Hard and soft policy systems could be employed to guarantee that this issue is taken seriously and solved effectively. However, in China, compared with the European Union (EU) and Australia, few experts have reviewed the policies related to this area. Thus, a comparative analysis was performed to investigate the hard and soft law policies associated with safety-related psychological health in the workplace based on approved criteria. A total of 21 policies (16 hard and 5 soft) were evaluated, and the current realities were discovered. Then, by comparing the actual situation in China with that of countries with well-developed policy systems in this area, extant gaps and future challenges were observed. The results showed that both hard and soft policies addressed the topic, but all of them had rather low scores. The policy system is far from perfect and is still in its infancy in China, and there are great gaps between China and countries with more developed systems related to this topic. Filling these gaps may involve encountering some challenges in the future. Based on the analysis, some specific suggestions are recommended to promote the policy system and improve OHS management from the perspective of psychological health related to work.     

Exploring differences in the workplace violence experiences of young workers in middle and late adolescence in the United States

Problem: Young workers, typically characterized as 15–24 years of age, are commonly employed in jobs where the risk of workplace violence is high. It is unknown how these young workers, at varying stages of development, might understand and respond to workplace violence differently. We set out to explore whether the experiences and understandings of young workers varied between those in middle (ages 15–17) and late (ages 18–24) adolescence. Method: Separate focus groups were conducted with working students (n = 31), ages 15–17 and ages 18–24, who had either experienced or witnessed workplace violence. A focus group guide was used to facilitate the sessions which were recorded, transcribed, and content analyzed for themes. Results: Those in the older group experienced more severe episodes of sexual harassment and physical assault, reported using formal mechanisms for reporting, and noticed an employer focus on customer satisfaction over employee safety, while the younger participants tended to report to their parents. Both groups reported negative effects of experiencing workplace violence including depression, anxiety, feelings of worthlessness, and spill over into personal life. Discussion: Findings suggest that young workers at different developmental stages may experience and respond to workplace violence differently. Further research is needed to see if these results are generalizable. Summary: It is imperative that we understand the distinct differences between these subsets of young workers and how they experience and respond to workplace violence in order to improve research, policy development, and prevention/intervention mechanisms. Practical Applications: Understanding that differences exist among young workers based on age due to developmental stage, lack of experience, education, and social awareness can enable employers, companies, policy makers, and researchers the opportunity to better address the issue of workplace violence in this population.     

试论统计学理论在安全经济分析中的应用

近年来安全经济学作为一个新兴学科得到了较大程度的发展,但是仍处于初创阶段,定量分析技术和方法亟待提高和完善。随着社会经济统计学的发展以及安全经济理论的不断成熟,经济统计学理论在处理安全生产问题中逐渐显示出其优越性。通过分析统计理论在安全经济分析中的作用和意义,提出了安全经济统计分析研究的主要内容和体系,阐述了安全经济统计分析的理论基础,为安全经济统计方法论的构建奠定了基础。     

Perceptions of personal vulnerability to workplace hazards in the Australian construction industry

Introduction

The importance of risk perception for workplace safety has been highlighted by the inclusion of risk appraisals in contemporary models of precautionary behavior at work. Optimism bias is the tendency to think that negative events are less likely to happen to oneself than to the average person, and is proposed to be related to the reduced use of precautions.

Method

Building on studies of optimism bias for workplace hazards using samples with heterogenous risk profiles, the current study aimed to investigate whether optimism bias is present in a sample of workers exposed to similar workplace hazards. 175 Australian construction workers completed a brief survey that asked them to rate the likelihood of common construction industry hazards occurring to them and to the average worker of the same age doing the same job. Significant levels of optimism bias were found for many hazards (including being electrocuted, being trapped in a confined space, falling from heights, and causing someone else to have an injury).

Results

Optimism bias was not related to perceived controllability, contrary to findings in other domains, yet consistent with findings of optimism bias for workplace hazards. Optimism bias was not found to be related to a reduction in safe work behaviors, though this may be due to difficulties in measuring safe or precautionary behavior, such as social desirability.

Impact on industry

That most workers think that hazards are less likely to happen to them than to the average worker presents a significant problem because it may ameliorate the efficacy of safety programs, yet constitutes a largely unexplored opportunity for improving workplace safety performance.     

功能安全评估在安全评价中的应用体系研究

在工业过程控制领域,安全仪表系统监视生产过程的状态,在危险条件出现时采取相应的措施,防止危险发生,避免潜在危险对人身、设备、环境造成伤害或减轻造成的损失,是保障生产安全的重要措施。安全仪表系统应能在危险发生时正确的执行其安全功能,因而其自身的功能安全成为关注的焦点。作为安全评价的延伸,应将功能安全评估引入,从而完善安全评价体系。本文以功能安全国际标准为基础,讨论建立我国功能安全评估机构的运作模型及功能安全评估在安全评价中的应用体系。     

The effect of contextual information on professional judgment: Reliability and biasability of expert workplace safety inspectors

Introduction: A critical aspect of occupational safety is workplace inspections by experts, in which hazards are identified. Scientific research demonstrates that expectation generated by context (i.e., prior knowledge and experience) can bias the judgments of professionals and that individuals are largely unaware when their judgments are affected by bias. Method: The current research tested the reliability and biasability of expert safety inspectors’ judgments. We used a two-study design (Study 1, N = 83; Study 2, N = 70) to explore the potential of contextual, task-irrelevant, information to bias professionals’ judgments. We examined three main issues: (1) the effect that biasing background information (safe and unsafe company history) had on professional regulatory safety inspectors’ judgments of a worksite; (2) the reliability of those judgments amongst safety inspectors and (3) inspectors’ awareness of bias in their judgments and confidence in their performance. Results: Our findings establish that: (i) inspectors’ judgments were biased by historical contextual information, (ii) they were not only biased, but the impact was implicit: they reported being unaware that it affected their judgments, and (iii) independent of our manipulations, inspectors were inconsistent with one another and the variations were not a product of experience. Conclusion: Our results are a replication of findings from a host of other professional domains, where honest, hardworking professionals underappreciate the biasing effect of context on their decision making. The current paper situates these findings within the relevant research on safety inspection, cognitive bias and decision making, as well as provides suggestions for bias mitigation in workplace safety inspection. Practical Application: Our results have implications for occupational health and safety given that inspection is an integral aspect of an effective safety system. In addition to our findings, this study contributes to the literature by providing recommendations regarding how to mitigate the effect of bias in inspection.     

安全系统思想内涵及其应用研究*——探讨用安全系统思想实现城市安全发展

为了利用安全科学理论解决城市安全中的现实问题,探讨用安全系统思想实现城 市安全这一复杂系统动态安全,基于安全“三元分形双系统”原理,开展了安全系统思 想内涵及其应用研究。基于安全系统思想内涵,通过分析归纳、总结概括的方法,提出 了用安全系统思想实现城市安全发展这种复杂系统动态安全的关键技术和思路。并结合 城市安全的具体特点,提出了安全发展城市建设的基本步骤。结果显示,用安全系统思 想实现复杂系统动态安全,指导城市安全发展是可行的。     

Sleeping with a broken promise: The moderating role of generativity concerns in the relationship between psychological contract breach and insomnia among older workers

This paper examines the relationship between psychological contract breach and insomnia among older workers (aged 40 years and up). Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, we conceptualize breach as a stressful event characterized by a perceived threat, failure to gain, or actual loss of valued resources, which increases psychological distress and insomnia. Moreover, we hypothesized that older workers' generativity concerns would act as a personal resource that would buffer the negative impact of breach. We tested our proposed model in 2 studies (Study 1 = 123; Study 2 = 168) of employee–spouse dyads. Results revealed that psychological distress mediated the relationship between psychological contract breach and insomnia. These mediated relationships were significant for those with low, but not for those with high levels of generativity concerns. These effects remained significant even after controlling for perceived organizational support (i.e., a social exchange mechanism). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

利益冲突群体的安全人性及其弱点

根据安全人性需求理论对利益冲突群体形成的原因进行了分析,在安全人性理论的基础上揭示了利益冲突群体安全人性的本质。通过统计分析我国近14年发生的群体性事件,得出了我国群体性事件的特点、矛盾主体、原因。运用蝴蝶突变理论对群体性事件发生的原因进行分析,构建了群体性事件发生的过程机理模型,提出了应对群体性事件发生的思路,总结出利益冲突群体安全人性的应用领域。     

A new look at the psychological contract during organizational socialization: The role of newcomers' obligations at entry

Previous studies have demonstrated that the psychological contract is largely shaped during socialization. This study adopts a complementary perspective and analyzes how the psychological contract at the start of employment shapes the subsequent socialization process. Drawing upon social exchange theory, we propose that newcomers with a higher sense of their personal obligations at entry will perceive orientation training as more useful and develop better relationships with their supervisors and peers, which in turn will facilitate their work adjustment. Results of a longitudinal survey on a sample of 144 recruits from a European Army show that newcomers with a higher initial sense of their employee obligations toward their employer report higher perceived training utility, higher leader–member exchange (LMX) with their instructors, and higher team–member exchange (TMX) with their platoon peers. Moreover, perceived training utility and LMX predict the fulfillment of employers' obligations; and training utility predicts the level of newcomers' employee obligations. Finally, training utility, LMX, and TMX predict some of three indicators of newcomers' adjustment, namely, role clarity (training utility and LMX), group integration (TMX), and organizational values understanding (training utility). These results highlight how newcomers' obligations at the start of employment contribute to the social exchange dynamic underlying organizational socialization. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Making work safer: Testing a model of social exchange and safety management

Introduction

This study tests a conceptual model that focuses on social exchange in the context of safety management. The model hypothesizes that supportive safety policies and programs should impact both safety climate and organizational commitment. Further, perceived organizational support is predicted to partially mediate both of these relationships.

Methods

Study outcomes included traditional outcomes for both organizational commitment (e.g., withdrawal behaviors) as well as safety climate (e.g., self-reported work accidents). Questionnaire responses were obtained from 1,723 employees of a large national retailer.

Results

Using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques, all of the model's hypothesized relationships were statistically significant and in the expected directions. The results are discussed in terms of social exchange in organizations and research on safety climate.

Impact on Industry

Maximizing safety is a social-technical enterprise. Expectations related to social exchange and reciprocity figure prominently in creating a positive climate for safety within the organization.     

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.     

动态安全评价方法在建筑领域的应用设想

建筑施工现场是较易发生伤亡事故的地方，全面推行安全评价工作势在必行。在安全评价中引进动态安全评价方法如动态故障树分析方法更符合建筑施工的实际。     

以风险预控为核心的安全管理体系理论研究与应用

以系统安全理论的观点和方法,通过建立人机环境系统物理模型,剖析两类危险有害因素诱发事故的机理,阐述危险有害因素在生产系统中不同影响程度和情况.将生产系统划分为本质安全型、风险型、危险型和危机型四种形式,并与之对应将安全管理分为本质安全管理、风险预控管理、隐患排查治理和应急响应管理四个等级.进而提出推行“以风险预控为核心、以隐患排查治理为基础、以应急响应为补充、以本质安全为目标”的“四位一体”安全管理模式.     

Learning from the Bhopal disaster to improve process safety management in Singapore

The Singapore process industry is mainly made up of chemical and energy companies such as Mitsui Chemicals, Clariant, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Sumitomo, Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore and Infineum. Majority of these companies are located on Jurong Island, southwest of Singapore. Jurong Island houses nearly 100 leading petroleum, petrochemicals and specialty chemicals companies and the total investment is about S$42 billion in total. With a land surface area of only 716 km² and a high concentration of process plants, the Singapore government places strong emphasis on safety and risk management. In this paper, four process industry veterans from the government, academic and private sectors were interviewed. Through the interviews, the authors sought to understand the veterans’ perspectives on lessons that the Singapore process industry should learn from the Bhopal disaster. The veterans expanded their thoughts beyond the Bhopal disaster and provided many insights and suggestions critical to process safety management in Singapore and other countries. A systemic model of process safety management was derived from the interviews and key elements of operational process safety management were identified. In addition, a research agenda was identified based on the inputs from the veterans.     

贵州茅台集团公司安全发展探讨

总结和探讨了贵州茅台集团在安全生产管理方面的经验。其主要经验和做法是坚持预防为主的安全发展方针,营造员工支持的基础,建立和完善组织机构和规章制度,加强安全培训,落实责任,进行隐患排查整治和安全绩效考核,重视安全过程管理,保证安全专项经费投入,制定安全目标,以科技为支撑,打非治违,严守值班和抢险救援是预防为主的应急响应,勇于承担社会责任,取得了一定的成效。     

安全控制论原理和应用

以系统论、信息论、控制论为指导思想,结合安全系统工程现场实践,对开发、完善安全控制论的理论体系及其应用等方面研究成果作了简要介绍,包括安全控制论的数学模型,安全系统的控制方式,安全计量及其在安全评价等方面的应用.     

基于包络线的云相似度及其在安全评价中的应用

在安全评价中,专家给出的数据一般带有定性和定量、模糊性和随机性、不确定性等特点。为了表示这些特点,并将这些信息进行分析、合并,进而达到化简的目的,提出一种基于包络线的云模型方法。该方法用云模型表示专家对某一问题给定的数据,形成多位专家对该问题的多个云模型。同时根据云模型形态特点,构建云模型的上下包络线,并对包络线之间的云滴区域进行积分。最终通过积分区域重叠部分与积分区域的比例关系来判断云模型的相似程度,达到将这些专家信息化简的目的。给出了4种基于相似度的评价语义化简规则。应用该方法分析巷道冒顶风险中稳定岩层距巷道顶板表面距离的中度风险语义。结果表明,两位专家对于该问题的看法既有联系又有区别。最后给出了该算法的优点。