Modelling safety climate in the prediction of levels of safety activity

This study examined the architecture of the relationships between component s of organizational safety climate, including employee attitudes to safety issues and perceptions of the work environment, and related this to self-re ported levels of safety activity. Data were collected from a large multinat ional manufacturing organization by questionnaire. A total of 915 valid que stionnaires were returned and formed the basis for structural equation mode lling and subsequent analyses. These data showed that a common structure, o r architecture, of attitudes to safety issues and perceptions of the work e nvironment could be constructed that explained levels of safety activity. T he strength of employees' attitudes with regard to safety management played a pivotal role in this model through both direct and indirect paths. This is consistent with earlier findings on the importance of management commitm ent in organizations with well developed safety cultures. An examination of the differences between plants/sites showed that employees differed in the ir attitudes to safety issues, such as the management of safety and communi cation, and in their perceptions of workplace hazards. It is intended that this model be further utilized within the organization under study as a bas is for monitoring safety performance and planned improvements in safety.