TY - JOUR
T1 - The relationship between safety climate and injury rates across industries
T2 - The need to adjust for injury hazards
AU - Smith, Gordon S.
AU - Huang, Yueng Hsiang
AU - Ho, Michael
AU - Chen, Peter Y.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the Liberty Mutual Safety Research Fellowship in cooperation with American Society of Safety Engineers; the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health [NIOSH] Small Pilot Projects Award, scholastic year 2003–2004; the NIOSH Training Grant #T42CCT310419.
PY - 2006/5
Y1 - 2006/5
N2 - Previous studies have suggested that strong safety climates (shared perceptions of safe conducts at work) are associated with lower workplace-injury rates, but they rarely control for differences in industry hazards. Based on 33 companies, we assessed its association with injury rates using three rate based injury measures (claims per 100 employees, claims per 100,000 h worked, and claims per US$ 1 million payroll), which were derived from workers' compensation injury claims. Linear regression models were used to test the predictability of safety climate on injury rates, followed by controlling for differences in hazard across industries gauged by national industry-specific injury rates. In the unadjusted model, company level safety climate were negatively and significantly associated with injury rates. However, all of the above associations were no longer apparent when controlling for the hazardousness of the specific industry. These findings may be due to over adjustment of hazard risk, or the overwhelming effects of industry specific hazards relative to safety climate effects that could not be differentiated with the statistical power in our study. Industry differences in hazard, conceptualized as one type of injury risk, however need to be considered when testing the association between safety climate and injury across different industries.
AB - Previous studies have suggested that strong safety climates (shared perceptions of safe conducts at work) are associated with lower workplace-injury rates, but they rarely control for differences in industry hazards. Based on 33 companies, we assessed its association with injury rates using three rate based injury measures (claims per 100 employees, claims per 100,000 h worked, and claims per US$ 1 million payroll), which were derived from workers' compensation injury claims. Linear regression models were used to test the predictability of safety climate on injury rates, followed by controlling for differences in hazard across industries gauged by national industry-specific injury rates. In the unadjusted model, company level safety climate were negatively and significantly associated with injury rates. However, all of the above associations were no longer apparent when controlling for the hazardousness of the specific industry. These findings may be due to over adjustment of hazard risk, or the overwhelming effects of industry specific hazards relative to safety climate effects that could not be differentiated with the statistical power in our study. Industry differences in hazard, conceptualized as one type of injury risk, however need to be considered when testing the association between safety climate and injury across different industries.
KW - Employee safety control
KW - Organizational factors
KW - Safety climate
KW - Safety management
KW - Workers' compensation
KW - Workplace injury
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U2 - 10.1016/j.aap.2005.11.013
DO - 10.1016/j.aap.2005.11.013
M3 - Article
C2 - 16430845
AN - SCOPUS:33644919917
SN - 0001-4575
VL - 38
SP - 556
EP - 562
JO - Accident Analysis and Prevention
JF - Accident Analysis and Prevention
IS - 3
ER -