Safety climate and prediction of ergonomic behavior

Int J Occup Saf Ergon. 2013;19(4):523-30. doi: 10.1080/10803548.2013.11077018.

Abstract

One of the most important ways to prevent accidents is to consider safety climate or culture. Moreover, some studies suggest that behavior contributes to 86%-96% of all injuries. This cross-sectional study took place in an Iranian petrochemical company in 2010. Vinodkumar and Bhasi's safety climate questionnaire and an ergonomic behavior sampling checklist were the data collection tools. Cronbach's α for questionnaire reliability was .928. With reference to the results of a pilot study, a sample of 1755 was determined for behavior sampling. We used principal component analysis (PCA) to derive the coefficient of paths in the path model and the Anderson-Rabin method to calculate factor scores. The results showed that safety climate was an effective predictor of ergonomic behavior (p < .01). They also showed the importance of decreasing the number of workers with negative safety climate. Moreover, it is necessary to promote workers' ergonomic behaviors in the workplace.

MeSH terms

  • Accidents, Occupational / prevention & control*
  • Accidents, Occupational / statistics & numerical data
  • Adult
  • Chemical Industry
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Ergonomics*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pilot Projects
  • Principal Component Analysis
  • Safety Management*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires