GENERAL SAFETY PERFORMANCE: A TEST OF A GROUNDED THEORETICAL MODEL

The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Workplace Safety: The Significance of Employees' Moral Identity

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained significant attention from researchers and practitioners due to its potential impact on employee attitudes and behaviors. This study investigates the influence of CSR on employee safety behavior, examining the mediating effects of job stress and organizational identification, as well as the moderating role of moral identity. We conducted a three-wave time-lagged survey among 236 South Korean employees. Participants were recruited through a research company using stratified random sampling. Data were collected at three time points, each separated by a 4-5-week interval. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesized relationships. The findings support all of the hypothesized relationships. CSR was positively related to safety behavior and negatively related to job stress. Job stress was negatively related to organizational identification, which in turn was positively related to safety behavior. The sequential mediation of job stress and organizational identification was significant. Moral identity moderated the relationship between CSR and job stress, such that the negative effect of CSR on job stress was stronger for employees with a high moral identity. This study contributes to the CSR literature by examining the impact of CSR on safety behavior and the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions of this relationship. The findings suggest that organizations can promote employee safety behavior by implementing CSR initiatives, which can reduce job stress and enhance organizational identification. Organizations should also consider the role of employees' moral identity when designing and communicating CSR initiatives.

The relationship of Value dimensions in Turk Society with fatalistic tendencies, safety motivation, risk perception and safety performance

Understanding the role of people in occupational accidents is very difficult. It is always assumed that people perform the behaviour that feels right to them. This study's main topic is the relationship between values, which form the basis of human behaviour, and safety motivation, fatalistic tendencies, risk perception and safety behaviour. In this context, for the aim of the study, path analysis and partial correlation analysis were used to examine the relationship between variables, and tests were used to examine the relationship between demographic variables with 701 participants from NUTS-12 region of Turkey. According to the findings of the research, it was determined that most of the 19 value dimensions and the top values of self-protection and growth and the top value dimensions of conservation, self-enhancement, self-transcendence and openness to change affect fatalism tendencies, risk perception, safety motivation(SM) and safety performance(SP). While self-protection, conservation and self-enhancement top values have a negative effect on SP, openness to change, self-transcendence and growth top values have a positive effect on SP. Taking into consideration that individuals will exhibit behaviours based on the value dimensions they attach importance to, OHS trainings should be developed in accordance with the value dimensions given importance according to NUTS-12 regions. Furthermore, legal support should be provided to eliminate and reduce the negative aspects of value dimensions for OHS.

Safety Stressors and Coal Miners' Safety Performance: The Mediating Role of Resilience and Coping Styles

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the effects of three different safety stressors (safety role ambiguity, safety role conflicts, and safety interpersonal conflicts) on safety performance of coal miners under the mediating role of resilience and coping styles.

Patients and Methods

The study is cross-sectional. To collect data to analyze the hypothesized relationships in the present study, a total of 450 questionnaires were distributed to coal miners in Shannxi Province of China. Regression analysis was employed as the main statistical technique in analyzing the data using SPSS 22.0 and Process 4.1.

Results

The results of regression analysis indicate that the three kind of safety stressors have a negative predictive effect on coal miners' safety performance. Resilience and coping styles both were the mediating variables between the safety stressors (safety role ambiguity, safety role conflicts, and safety interpersonal conflicts) and coal miners' safety performance, and resilience and coping styles play a chain mediating role between the safety stressors (safety role ambiguity, safety role conflicts, and safety interpersonal conflicts) and safety performance of coal miners.

Conclusion

This study further explores the mechanism between safety stressors and safety performance, providing theoretical guidance for improving the safety performance of coal mines. It emphasizes the importance of coal miner's resilience intervention, positive coping styles promotion, and negative coping styles prevention in coal mine safety production.

A practical framework to develop and prioritize safety interventions to improve underground coal miners' safety performance

BACKGROUND

Improvement of workers' safety performance is an integral and essential part of safety management. Relevant safety interventions to improve workers' safety performance are generally difficult to establish when there is a wide range of occupational hazards and at-risk individuals' features.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed at formulating a practical approach to develop and prioritize potential safety interventions based on occupational and individual risk factors perceived by workers to promote workers' safety performance.

METHODS

A simple framework developed to identify and prioritize the suitable safety interventions. This framework made use of data collected using standardized and validated questionnaire and domain experts' opinions. Pearson correlation coefficients, exploratory factor analysis, and multiple linear regression were used to identify significant risk factors associated with workers' safety performance. Data were collected by interviewing 202 coal mine workers with occupational injuries, and their immediate supervisors from three mines.

RESULTS

Safety performance was associated with the occupational factor-domain (poor working condition, poor safety environment, poor job satisfaction, and high job stress) only (regression coefficient = 2.14, p < 0.01). The following interventions were identified and prioritized to promote workers' safety performance: provide fair compensation to workers, job-specific and safety training, promotion policy, achievable targets, relevant perks/benefits, safety training awareness, workplace lighting, ventilation network, sensitize the management, associate safety performance to promotion, and develop team spirit.

CONCLUSION

Our approach helps to identify and prioritize the most relevant interventions to promote safety at work when there are multiple risk factors.

Validation of the Spanish version of the Neal, Griffin and Hart safety behavior scale

Objectives. The safety behavior scale (SBS), developed by Neal, Griffin and Hart, is one of the most widely used conceptualizations in the field of occupational safety. Previous studies have evaluated the psychometric properties of this scale in different populations. However, few validation studies have been conducted in the Latin American context. To fill these gaps in the literature, this study aimed to assess the validity, reliability and measurement invariance of this instrument in the context of the Latin American mining industry. Methods. Data were collected from 398 workers from Ecuadorian mining companies. The questionnaire was translated into Spanish following a back-translation process. The latent factorial structure of the SBS was explored by estimating a series of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory equation modeling (ESEM) models. Results. The analyses showed that the two correlated first-order factor CFA representation was the most appropriate model for the data. Measurement invariance by age, type of contract and firm size was also confirmed. Conclusions. The SBS is a valid and reliable measure of safety behavior. In addition, this study determined the applicability of this instrument in the Latin American context, which enhances opportunities for future research in the region.

The influence of work safety information disclosure on performance of listed companies in high-risk industries: Evidence from Shenzhen stock Exchange

The disclosure of work safety information of listed companies in high-risk industries is an important aspect of their social responsibility, and it is also an inevitable requirement to meet the right of stakeholders to know, which has a far-reaching impact on the development of enterprises. In order to clarify the impact mechanism of work safety information disclosure on enterprise performance of listed companies in high-risk industries. 222 listed companies in high-risk industries were taken as the research object, and the multiple regression analysis method was used to analyze the relationship between the level of work safety information disclosure of enterprises and their financial performance, safety performance and social reputation. The results show that the work safety information disclosure of listed companies in high-risk industries has a positive impact on corporate financial performance, safety performance and social reputation; unabsorbed slack resources have a positive U-shaped regulatory effect on work safety information disclosure and enterprise social reputation; The shareholding ratio of institutional investors has an inverted U-shaped regulatory effect on the positive relationship between work safety information disclosure and enterprise social reputation. This study has enriched the theoretical and practical exploration of research on work safety information disclosure. It can help improve the level of work safety information disclosure and safety management in enterprises, while guiding the sustainable development of occupational health and safety within these organizations.

Examining the mediating effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between leader-member exchange and safety behavior among Algerian healthcare workers

PURPOSE

This study aims to examine the long-term impact of leader-member exchange (LMX) on employee safety behavior. It proposes a conceptual model that includes the mediating role of job satisfaction (JS) in the relationship between LMX and safety behaviors, regarding safety compliance behavior (SCB) and safety participation behavior (SPB).

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

Data were collected from 325 health-care workers across public hospitals in Algeria at three waves. Data were analyzed with partial least square structural equation modeling.

FINDINGS

The findings revealed that LMX positively influenced employees' job satisfaction. However, the relationship between LMX and SCB was found to be mediated by job satisfaction. LMX was not directly related to both dimensions of safety behavior, whereas JS was positively associated with safety compliance and safety participation.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

This is the first paper, to the best of the authors' knowledge, to report on the significant mediating role of JS on the reciprocal process used to exchange resources between leaders and subordinates and safety behaviors among health-care workers, thereby filling an important research gap in existing literature.

Developing a model for predicting safety performance of nurses based on psychosocial safety climate and role of job demands and resources, job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion as mediators

BACKGROUND

The present study aimed to develop a model for predicting the safety performance of nurses based on psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and the role of job demands and resources, job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion as mediators.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study using structural equation modeling (SEM) was carried out among nurses in Iran. Data were collected using the Psychosocial Safety Climate questionnaire, Neal and Griffin's Safety Performance Scale, the Management Standards Indicator Tool, the Effort-Reward Imbalance questionnaire, the Michigan Organizational Assessment Job Satisfaction subscale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory.

RESULTS

Surveys were distributed to 340 nurses provided informed consent. After removing incplete surveys, data from 280 partipants were analysed. The completion rate was 82.35%. The SEM results indicated that PSC can directly and indirectly predict nurses' safety performance. The final model showed an acceptable goodness of fit (p = 0.023). It indicated that PSC, job demands, and job satisfaction were directly related to safety performance, and also that PSC, emotional exhaustion, job resources, and job demands were all indirectly related to safety performance. Also, PSC had a significant relationship with all mediator variables, and job demands had direct effect on emotional exhaustion.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study presented a new model for predicting safety performance in nurses in which PSC, both directly and indirectly, plays an important role. In addition to paying attention to the physical aspects of the workplace, healthcare organizations should also take into account PSC to improve safety. Next steps in reducing safety issues in nursing is to develop intervention studies using this new evidence-based model as a framework.

The influence of corporate social responsibility on safety behavior: The importance of psychological safety and the authentic leadership

Considering the importance of safety behavior, the current study investigates the relationship between CSR and safety behavior. To be specific, we delve into the underlying mechanism and its contingent factor of the association. This paper proposes that CSR promotes employee safety behavior through the mediation of psychological safety. In addition, authentic leadership may function as a positive moderator that amplifies the positive effect of CSR on psychological safety. Utilizing 3-wave time-lagged survey data from 213 South Korean workers, the current study empirically tests the hypotheses by establishing a moderated mediation model by utilizing structural equation modeling. The results demonstrate that CSR enhances employees' safety behavior by increasing their psychological safety and that authentic leadership positively moderates the relationship between CSR and psychological safety. This research's findings have meaningful theoretical and practical implications.

Adapting, adopting, and advancing change: A framework for future research in the psychology of occupational safety

INTRODUCTION

While there are numerous reviews of the research on the psychology of occupational safety, these studies provide weak guidance on where the research should go next. Accordingly, we introduce a simple framework for thinking about future research in this area: the adapting, adopting, and advancing change framework. This framework summarizes how external, technological, and theoretical developments have driven research in the psychology of occupational safety and uses these observations as evidence to imagine ways in which they may continue to do so.

METHOD

We critically reviewed seminal research in the psychology of occupational safety using the adapting, adopting, and advancing change framework. Adapting to change means considering external changes such as the fluctuating nature of work and the labor market. Adopting change refers to incorporating the latest technological and technical advances to facilitate more robust research methods and analyses. Finally, advancing change refers to theoretical advances and how they will push psychology of occupational safety research forward.

RESULTS

We highlight several avenues for future research that emerge at the convergence of the framework's three themes, including developing the safety skill construct, assessing variation in demand appraisals on safety outcomes, distinguishing safety climate from related constructs, and examining safety constructs that are usually considered as outcomes (e.g., injuries) as predictors instead.

CONCLUSIONS

In doing so, we provide a clear structure to help researchers better identify the most effective directions for future research on the psychology of occupational safety.

Safety behaviors and job satisfaction during the pandemic: The mediating roles of uncertainty and managerial commitment

INTRODUCTION

As the Covid-19 pandemic affects the world, disruptions to work routines impose a psychological burden on people, and thus can affect their job performance and well-being. We conducted an empirical study to explore the links between the experience of Covid-19 and workers' safety behaviors and well-being outcome of job satisfaction.

METHOD

Structural equation modelling (SEM) with a sample of 515 safety workers was conducted to simultaneously test the links among these constructs.

RESULTS

Experience of Covid-19 was associated with lower employee job satisfaction, explained by higher psychological uncertainty and decreased perception of managerial commitment to safety. Notably, contrasting pathways from experience of Covid-19 to safety behaviors were found. On the one hand, higher psychological uncertainty caused by the pandemic was associated with lower perceptions of managerial safety commitment; and lower perceived managerial safety commitment was linked to reduced safety compliance and safety participation. On the other hand, experience of Covid-19 in this study showed unexpected positive direct links with safety behaviors, which might be explained by workers' enhanced safety knowledge, motivation, and status of mindfulness due to Covid-19 related safety instructions and communications.

CONCLUSIONS

This exploratory study helps to deepen the understanding of workplace safety and well-being in the context of pandemic and in times of uncertainty.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

The practical insights are useful for applying appropriate strategies for managing the Covid-19 crisis, coping with uncertainties, and building a healthier and safer workplace in the long run.

Safety Compliance in a Sample of Italian Mechanical Companies: The Role of Knowledge and Safety Climate

The accident rate in the Italian mechanical sector is still too high, and evidence-based interventions to improve safety performance are essential. To better address this, our study contributes to the understanding of how to promote safety compliance through safe behaviours by using a sample of Italian mechanical workers (n = 109). Before and after scheduled safety training, intervention data on organizational factors, as well as on individual factors affecting safety-related behaviours, were collected. Particularly, data were collected using multiple sources, including self-perception questionnaires (to measure the safety climate among the management and colleagues and the safety attitude), paper and pencil tests (to measure safety knowledge), and observations by personnel with experience in observation tasks (to measure safety behaviours objectively). A model class of competing general linear models was built to determine which of the models was best suited for predicting safety-related behaviours. The results showed that both knowledge and the management’s safety climate effectively promoted safety compliance. Crucial implications for the effectiveness of active teaching methods, along with the need for continuous training and the prominent role of the management team members in giving, through their actions, further relevance to the need to respect rules and procedures, were revealed. Finally, practical implications for researchers, corporate decision makers, government agencies, and international bodies are discussed.

The Role of Psychological Capital and Work Engagement in Enhancing Construction Workers' Safety Behavior

Objectives

Construction is one of the unsafe industrial sectors, causing a considerable amount of harm to its workforce and organizations globally. Only a handful of research evidence has been found evaluating individuals' cognitive and engagement-related constructs to improve occupational safety. Psychological Capital (PsyCap) can have a promising impact on construction workers' psychological health, possibly leading to positive performance. Limited studies have tested PsyCap and work engagement regarding safety specifically in the context of the construction industry, with non-harmonious findings.

Methods

The proposed framework was assessed through the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique along with bootstrapping for mediation analysis. Responses were collected from different states of Malaysia from 345 construction workers. PsyCap dimensions (hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism) were measured in connection with safety compliance and safety participation, with the mediating role of work engagement.

Results

According to findings, hope, optimism, and work engagement have a positive and significant impact on safety compliance. Also, hope, self-efficacy, resilience, optimism, and work engagement have a positive and significant impact on safety participation. Further, self-efficacy and optimism both have a positive impact on work engagement.

Conclusions

PsyCap can be a possible predictor for work engagement, which may enhance safety-related behavior. PsyCap should be treated as a multidimensional instrument to enhance occupational safety. In-depth deliberation is needed by the organization while applying PsyCap to enhance employees' work engagement as well as safety behavior. Practical interventions based on interactive training are proposed to enhance construction industry safety. Other industries can also adapt suitable dimension(s) of PsyCap to safety behavior improvements.

To serve and protect: a typology of service robots and their role in physically safe services

Purpose

Although consumers feel that the move toward service robots in the frontline so far was driven by firms' strive to replace human service agents and realize cost savings accordingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has led customers to appreciate frontline robots' ability to provide services in ways that keep them safe and protected from the virus. Still, research on this topic is scant. This article offers guidance by providing a theoretical backdrop for the safety perspective on service robots, as well as outlining a typology that researchers and practitioners can use to further advance this field.

Design/methodology/approach

A typology is developed based on a combination of a theory- and practice-driven approach. Departing from the type of behavior performed by the service robot, the typology synthesizes three different service robot roles from past literature and proposes three new safety-related role extensions. These safety-related roles are derived from a search for examples of how service robots are used in practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings

The typology's roles are corroborated by discussing relevant robot implementations around the globe. Jointly, the six roles give rise to several ideas that jointly constitute a future research agenda.

Originality/value

This manuscript is (one of) the first to provide in-depth attention to the phenomenon of service customers' physical safety needs in the age of service robots. In doing so, it discusses and ties together theories and concepts from different fields, such as hierarchy of needs theory, evolutionary human motives theory, perceived risk theory, regulatory focus theory, job demand–resources theory, and theory of artificial intelligence job replacement.

An Evaluation of Safety Training for a Diverse Disaster Response Workforce: The Case of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

(1) Background: In this case study, we examined the safety-training-related experiences of individuals from six racial-ethnic groups (Asians (Vietnamese), Blacks, Hispanics, Isleños, Native Americans, and Whites) involved in the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (2) Methods: We assessed, via a survey, 495 disaster response trainees’ reactions to the design and delivery of training, learning, safety performance, and injury and illness experience. (3) Results: Our results showed statistically significant racial-ethnic group differences with respect to reactions to training, components of learning (i.e., cognitive, skill, and affective), and safety performance (i.e., use of personal protective equipment, engaging in safe work practices, communicating of safety information, and exercising employee rights and responsibilities). In general, Asians and Isleños group members had lower reactions to training, self-reported learning, and safety performance. Additionally, we found that the safety climate interacted with learning to positively affect safety performance. (4) Conclusions: We discuss the implications of our findings for improving the quality of safety training in relation to addressing language and literacy concerns, developing training that is useful and engaging for volunteer and other cleanup workers from the contaminated region, and promoting a positive safety climate to enhance training transfer.

Construction Safety Performance Measurement Using Leading Indicator-based Jobsite Safety Inspection Method - A Case Study of Building Construction Project

AbstractThe construction industry is one of the hazardous industries all over the world. There have been continuous safety efforts on post-facto safety investigations and related corrective actions. However, to prevent future accidents, post-facto reports may not be able to provide comprehensive insights. Also, past literature pointed at limited proactive efforts to measure the current level of safety at the project. Therefore, this study introduced a leading indicator-based Jobsite safety inspection (JSI) method to measure the project's safety performance. A total of 781 observations were reported in baseline and follow-up JSI on a real construction site. The study's findings highlighted an increase in safe behavior and conditions (SB&C) by reducing unsafe behavior (UB) and unsafe conditions (UC). Results confirmed the significant improvement in the safety performance index (SPI) of the case study from 39.07% to 67.47%. This study also investigated hazardous locations and weak safety dimensions for further SPI improvement.

Factors affecting safety performance in the construction industry: an empirical study using structural equation modelling

The Saudi construction industry is among the largest in the region - and, for workers, among the most dangerous industries. The importance of this study is assisting to reduce hazards, sources of risk and perceptions of safety in the construction sector. Using a quantitative survey measure administered to a small (n = 276) sample of individuals, this study aimed to contribute to empirical understandings of safety performance in this unique context. A multivariate safety performance model was developed to ensure compatibility with the structure of the survey measure. The survey data revealed a strong consensus expressing negative views of every safety dimension and variable tested, with only tiny minorities selecting positively valenced responses. To test the descriptive power of the model as a whole, a structural equation modelling technique was used to assess the correspondence between the relationships constituting the model and their significance relative to empirical data.

Agility and Safety Performance among Nurses: The Mediating Role of Mindful Organizing

This study aimed to assess the impact of workforce agility on private hospital nursing staff’s safety behavior with the mediating role of mindful organizing. This study was cross-sectional. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 369 nursing staff. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used to check the internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and hypotheses testing. For mediation analysis, the bootstrapping technique was used. Our findings suggested that workforce agility is the possible predictor of mindful organizing, as all of these dimensions have a positive impact on mindful organizing. Reference to safety performance sub-dimensions, proactivity, adaptability, and resilience had a positive significant impact on (a) safety compliance, and proactivity had a positive impact on (b) safety participation. Further, mindful organizing was also found to be positively associated with safety performance. Evidence for mediation between workforce agility and safety performance was also observed. Proactivity, adaptability, and resilience can enhance safety performance for the nursing staff. Workforce agility can also help the organization to attain mindful organizing, which will help them to achieve operational excellence, whereas in the past, high-reliability organizations were mainly found practicing mindful organizing. This study demonstrated the key impact of workforce agility and mindful organizing on safety behaviors directly and indirectly.

Regulatory Fit Demonstrates That Prohibitive Voice Does Not Lead to Low Performance Evaluation

Voice behavior, the extra-role behavior of employees based on their sense of responsibility, plays an important role in organizational development. Research shows that an employee’s voice can have a positive impact on both the quality of decision-making and organizational performance. This study explores the relationship between the prohibitive voice and employees’ safety performance based on the theory of regulatory fit. The study examined 372 employees and their leaders in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China through a questionnaire survey. A moderated model was constructed, and the SPSS-PROCESS was applied to analyze the data. The study results show that prevention regulatory focus fit strengthened the positive association between the prohibitive voice and safety performance evaluation. This study provides a new perspective in understanding leaders’ evaluation of the prohibitive voice and concludes that the prohibitive voice should be encouraged in organizations as it promotes greater adherence to safety measures and helps reduce organizational development risks.

Antecedents of safety behavior in construction: A literature review and an integrated conceptual framework

There has been no scarcity in the literature of suggested antecedents of employee safety behavior, and this paper brings together the disaggregated antecedents of safety behavior in the construction field. In total, 101 eligible empirical articles are obtained. Bibliometric and context analyses are combined to identify the influential journals, scholars, keywords, use of theory, research methods, and countries or regions of the empirical samples. The 83 factors that are identified are divided into five groups, namely (a) individual characteristics, (b) workgroup interactions, (c) work and workplace design, (d) project management and organization, and (e) family, industry, and society. This indicates that the causes of safety behavior are manifold. Various factors from different systems likely work in concert to create situations in which an individual chooses to comply with safety rules and participate voluntarily in safety activities. Given this, we propose that safety behavior is only an ostensible symptom of more complex "The Self-Work-Home-Industry/Society" systems and establish a safety behavior antecedent analysis and classification model. Based on this model, we develop a resource flow model, illustrating why, how, and when the flow of resources between the five systems-namely the self system, work system, home system, work-home interface system, and industry/society system-either promotes or inhibits safety behavior. The safety behavior antecedent analysis and classification model and resource flow model are based mainly on bioecological system theory and resources theories. Avenues for future theoretical development and method designs are suggested based on the reviewed findings and the two conceptual models. The intention with this systematic review together with the two integrated conceptual models is to advance theoretical thinking on how safety behavior can be promoted, or instead, inhibited.

Safety Doesn't Happen by Accident: A Longitudinal Investigation on the Antecedents of Safety Behavior

Research recognizes the shared perceptions of the priority attributed to safety in comparison to other organizational goals (i.e., safety climate) as a potential antecedent of safety behavior among construction workers. This type of climate can dismantle barriers to the promotion of effective strategies to mitigate workplace hazards. On the other hand, the current understanding of the underlying process that links the perception of a safety climate to the implementation of safety behavior is far from being exhaustive. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore the role of risk perception and safety knowledge in explaining the positive impact of safety climate before attending a training course (Time 0) and safety behavior after the training completion (Time 1). Data were collected at two time-points on a sample of N = 278 construction workers taking part in different safety training courses promoted by a vocational training organization in Northern Italy. The hypothesized relationships were tested using a serial mediation model bootstrapping approach. The obtained results indicated that the perception of a safety climate at Time 0 (T0) among construction workers is associated with higher risk perception and safety knowledge that, in turn, resulted in a higher implementation of safety behavior at Time 1 (T1). These findings contribute to the understanding of those factors that constitute a fertile ground for preventing injuries and accidents in the construction sector.

THE DIRECT EFFECT OF CLIMATE EMERGENCY AND SAFETY CLIMATE ON INTENTION TO SAFETY BEHAVIOR: A STUDY

Purpose of the study: The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of climate emergence (i.e., work ownership, Islamic work ethic, and employee safety climate) on the intention of safety behavior. Methodology: The research framework was developed based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Exchange Theory. Stratified random sampling was used to collect data from 400 first-line operators and supervisors within the Small Medium Enterprise. A total of 250 useable questionnaires with a response rate of 75% were used for data analysis. The five proposed hypotheses were tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in IBM-SPSS-AMOS. Main Findings: The results indicate that climate emergence factors have a positive and significant effect on employee intention to safety behavior. Furthermore, employee safety climate found to be the strongest predictor of employee intention to safety behavior, while other climate emergence factors do not have a direct effect on the intention of safety behavior. The model accounted for 76% of the variance in climate emergence in the context of intention to safety behavior. Applications of this study: The results obtained from this study contribute to the improvement of proactive safety performance measures in the small-medium enterprise. However, further efforts are required to achieve the enhanced safety performance level Novelty/Originality of this study: This study adds to the existing psychological literature on climate and employee safety behavior. This present study enhanced the climate-based construct by improving the safety performance measurement for small-medium enterprises.

"Digging Deeper" into the Relationship Between Safety Climate and Turnover Intention Among Stone, Sand and Gravel Mine Workers: Job Satisfaction as a Mediator

Employee turnover has been linked to negative business performance outcomes, increased costs, and disruptions to operations. Research to explore predictors of turnover intention is important to the mining industry, including the stone, sand, and gravel mining (SSGM) industry. Safety climate has been linked to job satisfaction and reductions in turnover intention in other fields, but investigation within SSGM has virtually been non-existent, creating a knowledge gap. This research seeks to address this dearth of information. Cross-sectional data from 452 workers in the SSGM industry were analyzed to assess the influence of safety climate on turnover intention through job satisfaction. Mediation analyses showed that job satisfaction significantly mediated the relationship between safety climate and turnover intention. The implications of these novel findings are important for SSGM administrators. It suggests that bolstering safety programs and increasing safety climate perceptions will help increase job satisfaction and reduce turnover intention among workers in the SSGM industry.

Leadership concepts in manufacturing environments: A brief historical review and conclusion with recommendations for education and training of I-O psychologists

Viewing production-line workers from a historical standpoint, the attention on manufacturing in the 19th and into the 20th centuries was on production (Fifelski, 2014) and production-oriented leadership style, in contrast to employee-oriented leadership style (Likert, 1961; see also Kosicek, Soni, Sandbothe, & Slack, 2012).Around the turn of the 20th century, changes took place, and it appears as if two different approaches were taken in manufacturing environments: research–practitioner-based leadership approaches and management-based leadership approaches; the latter approach is less a leadership style and more a social management philosophy em+phasizing business operation (Vitolla, Rubino, & Garzoni, 2017). This review should bring awareness that industrial and organizational (I-O) psychologists once took on the lead to major successes that arose from work in manufacturing companies; however, today there is hardly any contribution by I-O psychologists to the manufacturing sector.

Improving workplace safety by thinking about what might have been: A first look at the role of counterfactual thinking

INTRODUCTION

Information processing theories of workplace safety suggest that cognition is an antecedent of safety behavior. However, little research has directly tested cognitive factors as predictors of workplace safety within organizational psychology and behavior research. Counterfactuals (cognitions about "what might have been") can be functional when they consist of characteristics (e.g., "upward' - focusing on better outcomes) that alter behavior in a manner consistent with those outcomes. This field study aimed to examine the influence of counterfactual thinking on safety behavior and explanatory mechanisms and boundary conditions of that relationship.

METHOD

A sample of 240 medical providers from a hospital in China responded to three surveys over a four-month time frame.

RESULTS

Results showed that upward counterfactuals were positively related to supervisor ratings of safety compliance and participation. These relationships were mediated by safety knowledge but not by safety motivation. Upward counterfactuals were more strongly related to safety behavior and knowledge than downward counterfactuals. As expected, safety locus of control strengthened the mediating effects of safety knowledge on the relationship between upward counterfactuals and safety behavior. Conclusions and Practical Applications: The findings demonstrated that counterfactual thinking is positively associated with safety behavior and knowledge, thus expanding the variables related to workplace safety and laying some initial groundwork for new safety interventions incorporating counterfactual thinking.

Does Evil Prevail? The “Bright” and “Dark” Sides of Personality as Predictors of Adaptive Performance

The turbulent context in which organizations operate today makes them search for adaptable workers. Previous studies have shown the predictive value of the “Big Five” personality traits on adaptive performance, but some authors suggest extending personality domain with the “dark” traits of personality, that is, Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy (i.e., the “Dark Triad”), and sadism (which, along with the aforementioned traits, composes the “Dark Tetrad”). The present research investigates the incremental validity of the dark traits in the prediction of adaptive performance over the Big Five. The study follows a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of 613 participants (46% women; mean age 38.78 years, SD = 14.05; mean job experience = 16.93 years, SD = 13.39) from different organizations who fill in a questionnaire with the variables. Our results showed that the Dark Triad improved the predictive model with respect to the Big Five (R2 = 0.202, ΔR2 = 0.030, p < 0.001). The statistically significant predictors were neuroticism (β = −0.127, p = 0.010), openness to experience (β = 0.155, p < 0.001), conscientiousness (β = 0.164, p = 0.001), narcissism (β = 0.134 p < 0.002), and psychopathy (β = −0.137, p = 0.005). The incorporation of sadism did not improve the Dark Triad model (R2 = 0.202, ΔR2= −0.001, p = 0.541).

Impact of Safety Attitude on the Safety Behavior of Coal Miners in China

Most coal mine accidents are attributed to the unsafe behavior of miners. Adjusting the safety attitude and thus improving miners’ safety behavior is important for accident prevention. However, the relationship between safety attitude and safety behavior in the coal mining industry has not been explored. The coal miners’ safety attitude scale and safety behavior scale were used to analyze the impact of safety attitude on safety behavior and investigate the correlation between four dimensions of safety attitude and two kinds of safety behavior. The impact of demographic characteristics including age, length of service, and education level on safety attitude and safety behavior was also measured. A survey of miners at four coal mines in China resulted in 593 valid responses. The result indicates that safety attitude is not only positively related to safety behavior but also positively related to safety participation and safety compliance. From the four dimensions of safety attitude, the team safety climate directly affects safety participation and safety compliance. Management safety commitment, job stress, and fatalism are not significantly related to safety participation and safety compliance. The results show that age and length of service were slightly related to safety attitude, and the education level was not significantly related to safety attitude. Age, length of service and education level had no impact on safety behavior. The contribution of this study to the current literature is that the safety attitude of coal miners can positively affect safety behavior and can be improved by fostering a good team safety climate. Practical implications emphasize safety training and safety education, especially for young miners. Managers should reinforce safety commitment, provide adequate safety equipment, timely communicate with miners, and encourage miners to actively communicate with colleagues to improve safety behavior and prevent accident in the coal mining industry.

The relationship between safety culture and safety climate and safety performance: a systematic review

Introduction. There is a close relationship between safety culture and safety climate and safety performance. However, the details of this relationship are somewhat unclear, due to different attitudes toward safety culture and safety climate, and the use of various tools for their evaluation, and various measures of safety performance. Methods. In this study, articles published in English from 2005 to 2017 were selected from various databases. Then, certain journals in the field of safety were specifically searched using the keywords 'safety and safety performance', 'safety climate and safety performance', 'safety culture and safety performance', 'safety climate and safety outcome', 'safety culture and safety outcome', 'safety culture and injury and fatalities' and 'safety climate and injuries and fatalities'. Results. In the current article, the role of safety culture and safety climate in improving safety performance was evaluated in 31 selected studies. It seems that reactive criteria and safety compliance is more consistent with safety climate and safety culture. Conclusions. The findings emphasized that increasing the level of safety climate and safety culture could be effective in reducing incidents and improving safety performance indicators.

Agent-Based Modeling of Employee Protection-Oriented Safety Proactivity Behaviors at Small Scale Enterprises

Although the safety production level at small scale enterprises is important for business success, critical safety interactions among the enterprises, its employees, the public, and the government have not been explained well in the literature. To address this gap, a bottom-up method of agent-based modeling is applied here that includes these key stakeholders. The study illustrates how employee protection-oriented safety proactivity behaviors, including whistleblowing and public exposure, can impact the safety production level at small scale enterprises, which are also watched by the public and regulated by the government. The results confirm that protection-oriented safety proactivity behaviors have a significant impact on the safety production levels at small enterprises through the interactions among multiple agents. The model results are validated using an employee questionnaire. The recommendation is for employees to encourage protection-oriented safety proactivity behaviors to improve safety production levels and for the public and the government to provide additional safety support.

The Mediating Role of Job Strain in the Transformational Leadership⁻Safety Behavior Link: The Buffering Effect of Self-Efficacy on Safety

Although some previous studies have examined the impact of transformational leadership on safety behavior, those works have paid relatively less attention to the intermediating role of employees’ job strain in the link as well as contingent variables that moderate the relationship. Considering that not only job strain substantially affects employees’ perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors in an organization, but also there are some contextual factors that moderate the relationships, we investigated intermediating mechanisms (i.e., mediator and moderator) in the relationship between transformational leadership and safety behavior. Relying on the context-attitude-behavior framework, we conducted a structural equation modeling analysis with a moderated mediation model. Specifically, we hypothesized that the level of an employee’s job strain would mediate the transformational leadership–safety behavior link. We also hypothesized that an employee’s self-efficacy regarding safety would moderate the association between job strain and safety behavior. Using survey data from 997 South Korean employees, we found that all of our hypotheses were supported. The findings suggest that the level of an employee’s job strain mediates and elaborately explains the transformational leadership–safety behavior link. Moreover, an employee’s self-efficacy regarding safety is a buffering factor which decreases the harmful effects of job strain on safety behavior.

How Work Intensification Relates to Organization-Level Safety Performance: The Mediating Roles of Safety Climate, Safety Motivation, and Safety Knowledge

Recent changes in the world of work have led to increased job demands with subsequent effects on occupational safety. Although work intensification has been linked to detrimental safety behavior and more accidents, there is so far no sufficient explanation for this relationship. This paper investigates the mediating roles of safety climate, safety motivation, and safety knowledge in the relationships of work intensification with components of safety performance at an organizational level. Safety engineers and managers from 122 Austrian high-accident companies participated in a cross-sectional survey. In line with our hypotheses, work intensification negatively related to both components of safety performance: safety compliance and safety participation. The results of a serial multiple mediation analysis further revealed safety climate and safety motivation to be serial mediators of the relationship between work intensification and safety performance. Unexpectedly, safety knowledge and safety climate only serially mediated the relationship between work intensification and safety compliance, but not the relationship between work intensification and safety participation. This study provides evidence for the detrimental effect of work intensification on safety performance across organizations. Additionally, this study offers an explanation as to how work intensification affects safety performance, enabling practitioners to protect their occupational safety procedures and policies from work intensification.

Leadership and safety: the role of goal commitment

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate safety goal commitment as a potential mediator of the relationship between safety-specific transformational leadership and safety performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A field study was conducted in a sample of municipal utilities workers. All workers were asked to take a survey during work time.

Findings

The results suggest that safety-specific transformational leadership is positively related to safety performance and safety goal commitment, safety goal commitment is positively related to safety performance, and goal commitment is a significant mediator of the relationship between transformational leadership and safety performance.

Practical implications

Goal-setting theory and subsequent research has suggested a variety of strategies that can be employed to enhance the goal commitment of employees, and this study suggests that some of these strategies could be explored in the occupational safety realm. Future research could explore what transformational behaviors might be taught which would aid in setting safety goals with employees and motivating them to commit to those goals.

Originality/value

These findings add to existing research which supports connections between transformational leadership and job behaviors. Furthermore, they add to the limited research which has explored possible explanatory mechanisms and underscores the importance of safety goal commitment as the focus of future research and/or organizational interventions.

Determinants of safety outcomes and performance: A systematic literature review of research in four high-risk industries

INTRODUCTION

In spite of increasing governmental and organizational efforts, organizations still struggle to improve the safety of their employees as evidenced by the yearly 2.3 million work-related deaths worldwide. Occupational safety research is scattered and inaccessible, especially for practitioners. Through systematically reviewing the safety literature, this study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of behavioral and circumstantial factors that endanger or support employee safety.

METHOD

A broad search on occupational safety literature using four online bibliographical databases yielded 27.527 articles. Through a systematic reviewing process 176 online articles were identified that met the inclusion criteria (e.g., original peer-reviewed research; conducted in selected high-risk industries; published between 1980-2016). Variables and the nature of their interrelationships (i.e., positive, negative, or nonsignificant) were extracted, and then grouped and classified through a process of bottom-up coding.

RESULTS

The results indicate that safety outcomes and performance prevail as dependent research areas, dependent on variables related to management & colleagues, work(place) characteristics & circumstances, employee demographics, climate & culture, and external factors. Consensus was found for five variables related to safety outcomes and seven variables related to performance, while there is debate about 31 other relationships. Last, 21 variables related to safety outcomes and performance appear understudied.

CONCLUSIONS

The majority of safety research has focused on addressing negative safety outcomes and performance through variables related to others within the organization, the work(place) itself, employee demographics, and-to a lesser extent-climate & culture and external factors.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This systematic literature review provides both scientists and safety practitioners an overview of the (under)studied behavioral and circumstantial factors related to occupational safety behavior. Scientists could use this overview to study gaps, and validate or falsify relationships. Safety practitioners could use the insights to evaluate organizational safety policies, and to further development of safety interventions.

Predicting workers' compensation claims and disciplinary actions using SecureFit®: Further support for integrative models of workplace safety

INTRODUCTION

A growing body of applied research has identified certain psychological traits that are predictive of worker safety. However, most of these studies suffer from an overreliance on common method bias caused by self-report measures of both: (a) personal factors such as personality traits; and (b) outcomes such as safety behaviors and injuries.

METHOD

This study utilized archival data from 796 employees at a large U.S. automobile manufacturer. Data were gathered on a pre-employment assessment, SecureFit®, that measured key personality characteristics such as conscientiousness, locus of control, and risk taking. In addition, objective measures of workers' compensation claims and disciplinary actions were also gathered.

RESULTS

The results indicated that disciplinary actions and workers' compensation claims were strongly correlated. It also demonstrated that the pre-employment assessment was able to predict both disciplinary actions and workers' compensation claims up to 12months in the future. Screening out just 8% of the applicant sample using the assessment would have resulted in a 35% reduction in disciplinary actions and 46% in workers' compensation claims, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The study found a very strong relationship between counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs), such as not following rules, and workers' compensation claims. It also found a strong relationship between a combination of personality traits that have been shown to be associated with both variables, although the current study was able to demonstrate that relationship with objective measure of both variables.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Individuals who receive disciplinary actions for things such as not following rules, not coming to work on time, etc. are significantly more likely to also be involved in serious safety incidents, and vice versa. Identifying those individuals early on in the hiring process and screening them out can significantly reduce the number of CWBs as well as workers' compensation claims.

Concept analysis of safety climate in healthcare providers

AIM AND OBJECTIVE

To report an analysis of the concept of safety climate in healthcare providers.

BACKGROUND

Compliance with safe work practices is essential to patient safety and care outcomes. Analysing the concept of safety climate from the perspective of healthcare providers could improve understanding of the correlations between safety climate and healthcare provider compliance with safe work practices, thus enhancing quality of patient care.

DESIGN

Concept analysis.

DATA SOURCES

The electronic databases of CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed and Web of Science were searched for literature published between 1995-2015. Searches used the keywords 'safety climate' or 'safety culture' with 'hospital' or 'healthcare'.

METHOD

The concept analysis method of Walker and Avant analysed safety climate from the perspective of healthcare providers.

RESULTS

Three attributes defined how healthcare providers define safety climate: (1) creation of safe working environment by senior management in healthcare organisations; (2) shared perception of healthcare providers about safety of their work environment; and (3) the effective dissemination of safety information. Antecedents included the characteristics of healthcare providers and healthcare organisations as a whole, and the types of work in which they are engaged. Consequences consisted of safety performance and safety outcomes. Most studies developed and assessed the survey tools of safety climate or safety culture, with a minority consisting of interventional measures for improving safety climate.

CONCLUSION

More prospective studies are needed to create interventional measures for improving safety climate of healthcare providers. This study is provided as a reference for use in developing multidimensional safety climate assessment tools and interventional measures.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

The values healthcare teams emphasise with regard to safety can serve to improve safety performance. Having an understanding of the concept of and interventional measures for safety climate allows healthcare providers to ensure the safety of their operations and their patients.

Preventive behaviour at work - A concept analysis

BACKGROUND

Preventive behaviour is a significant intervention target in order to promote health at work, but has never been discussed in an occupational perspective.

AIM

To clarify the concept of preventive behaviour at work.

METHODS

The Walker and Avant (2011) method was used to conduct the study.

RESULTS

The attributes of the concept are: (1) compliance with safety rules and procedures, (2) proactivity, participation, engagement and initiatives related to prevention, (3) maintenance of physical environment, (4) concern for social environment and (5) reflexivity and analytical skills of work situations. The analysis also identified the antecedents and the consequences of the concept that are all related to either the person, the environment or the occupation.

CONCLUSION

Preventive behaviour occurs when a worker shows an active involvement to comply with safety rules and procedures of his trade, takes initiatives to improve prevention, preserves his physical environment, communicates with his peers and analyses work situations before committing to it.

SIGNIFICANCE

Occupational therapists have a central role in primary prevention of work injuries and have the expertise to help develop each of the five attributes of the concept of preventive behaviour.

Workplace safety

Unsafe work environments have clear consequences for both individuals and organizations. As such, an ever-expanding research base is providing a greater understanding of the factors that affect workplace safety across organizational levels. However, despite scientific advances, the workplace safety literature suffers from a lack of theoretical and empirical integration that makes it difficult for organizational scientists to gain a comprehensive sense of (a) what we currently know about workplace safety and (b) what we have yet to learn. This review addresses these shortcomings. First, the authors provide a formal definition of workplace safety and then create an integrated safety model (ISM) based on existing theory to summarize current theoretical expectations with regard to workplace safety. Second, the authors conduct a targeted review of the safety literature and compare extant empirical findings with the ISM. Finally, the authors use the results of this review to articulate gaps between theory and research and then make recommendations for both theoretical and empirical improvements to guide and integrate future workplace safety research.

Job hindrances, job resources, and safety performance: The mediating role of job engagement

Job engagement has received widespread attention in organizational research but has rarely been empirically investigated in the context of safety. In the present study, we examined the mediating role of job engagement in the relationships between job characteristics and safety performance using self-reported data collected at a coal mining company in China. Most of our study hypotheses were supported. Job engagement partially mediated the relationships between job resources and safety performance dimensions. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are also discussed.

Leader communication approaches and patient safety: An integrated model

INTRODUCTION

Leader communication is known to influence a number of employee behaviors. When it comes to the relationship between leader communication and safety, the evidence is more scarce and ambiguous. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether and in what way leader communication relates to safety outcomes. The study examines two leader communication approaches: leader safety priority communication and feedback to subordinates. These approaches were assumed to affect safety outcomes via different employee behaviors.

METHOD

Questionnaire data, collected from 221 employees at two hospital wards, were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

RESULTS

The two examined communication approaches were both positively related to safety outcomes, although leader safety priority communication was mediated by employee compliance and feedback communication by organizational citizenship behaviors.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that leader communication plays a vital role in improving organizational and patient safety and that different communication approaches seem to positively affect different but equally essential employee safety behaviors.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

The results highlights the necessity for leaders to engage in one-way communication of safety values as well as in more relational feedback communication with their subordinates in order to enhance patient safety.