AbstractProblemSafety culture relates to injuries and safety incidents in organizations, but is difficult to asses and measure. We describe a preliminary test of assessing an organization's safety culture by examining employee interpretations of organizational safety artifacts (safety signs).MethodWe collected data in three organizations using a new safety culture assessment tool that we label the Safety Artifact Interpretation (SAI) scale; we then crossed these data with safety climate and leadership evaluations.ResultsSAI were interpreted by employees in accordance with two conceptually distinct themes that are salient in the literature on organizational safety culture: safety compliance and commitment to safety. A significant correlation exists between SAI scores and the organizational safety climate. A similar (though insignificant) relationship was observed between SAI scores and leadership ratings.Impact on industryEmployee perceptions and interpretations of safety artifacts can facilitate assessments of safety culture and can ultimately lead to understanding of and improvements in the level of organizational safety.
Testing safety commitment in organizations through interpretations of safety artifacts
Journal of Safety Research ; 39 , 5 ; 519-528
2008-08-11
10 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Artifacts , Symbols , Culture , Safety signs , Safety climate , Leadership
Testing safety commitment in organizations through interpretations of safety artifacts
Online Contents | 2008
|Testing safety commitment in organizations through interpretations of safety artifacts
Online Contents | 2008
|Wiley | 2020
|The USMSA's commitment to safety
Online Contents | 1994
Safety organizations and experts
NTRS | 1977
|