Measuring workplace safety climate in terms of its key components

Abstract

This study investigated the concept of Workplace Safety Climate in terms of its key components affecting aspects of work related safety in two human service organisations. In particular, the project investigated whether employee assessments of worker attitudes and behaviours contributed additional explanatory variance to the association with key work-related stress indicators or whether their assessments of management attitudes and behaviours either wholly or primarily determine this association. A sample of 111 employees working in a large entertainment and hospitality organisation completed normed measures of safety climate, psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and burnout. Results were compared to the same measures completed by 228 Disability Support Workers (DSWs) who provide residential care for people with disabilities in houses in the community. Results showed that for both groups safety climate and PSC were significantly correlated to worker burnout. However, it was found through multiple regressions that worker safety attitudes did not add predictive capacity for burnout above that of management in the large entertainment organisation but did so for DSWs. Findings suggest that the relative influence of safety related attitudes and behaviours of managers and workers may vary depending on the structure of the organisation.