Organizational culture and a safety-conscious work environment: The mediating role of employee communication satisfaction

Abstract

Introduction: A safety-conscious work environment allows high-reliability organizations to be proactive regarding safety and enables employees to feel free to report any concern without fear of retaliation. Currently, research on the antecedents to safety-conscious work environments is scarce.

Method: Structural equation modeling was applied to test the mediating role of employee communication satisfaction in the relationship between constructive culture and a safety-conscious work environment in several nuclear power plants.

Results: Employee communication satisfaction partially mediated the positive relationships between a constructive culture and a safety-conscious work environment.

Conclusions: Constructive cultures in which cooperation, supportive relationships, individual growth and high performance are encouraged facilitate the establishment of a safety-conscious work environment. This influence is partially explained by increased employee communication satisfaction.

Practical application: Constructive cultures should be encouraged within organizations. In addition, managers should promote communication policies and practices that support a safety-conscious work environment.

Keywords: Constructive culture; High reliability organizations; Nuclear power plants; Structural equation modeling (SEM).