K. Mearns et al., Benchmarking safety climate in hazardous environments: A longitudinal, interorganizational approach, RISK ANAL, 21(4), 2001, pp. 771-786
Safety climate is an important element of organizational reliability. This
study applied benchmarking strategies for monitoring safety climate across
nine North Sea oil and gas installations that were surveyed in consecutive
years. Examination of absolute changes in safety climate complemented the b
enchmarking approach. Discriminant function analyses (DFA) identified the e
lements of safety climate predictive of self-reported accidents; correlatio
nal analyses were applied to the scale scores and accident proportions acro
ss the year period. Absolute improvements were substantial, with safety cli
mate profiles converging in the second year. Large relative improvements we
re also observed. DFA highlighted perceived management commitment to safety
and willingness to report accidents as significant predictors of personal
accident involvement. Changes in perceived management commitment to safety
were closely associated with changes in safety behavior.