Human resource management practices and organizational injury rates

Nick Turner; Julian Barling; Jeremy F Dawson; Connie Deng; Sharon K Parker; Malcolm G Patterson; Chris B Stride

doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2021.06.003

Human resource management practices and organizational injury rates

J Safety Res. 2021 Sep:78:69-79. doi: 10.1016/j.jsr.2021.06.003. Epub 2021 Jun 16.

Authors

Nick Turner¹, Julian Barling², Jeremy F Dawson³, Connie Deng⁴, Sharon K Parker⁵, Malcolm G Patterson³, Chris B Stride³

Affiliations

¹ Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, Canada. Electronic address: nicholas.turner@ucalgary.ca.
² Smith School of Business, Queen's University, Canada.
³ Sheffield University Management School, University of Sheffield, UK.
⁴ Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, Canada.
⁵ Future of Work Institute, Curtin University, Australia.

PMID: 34399933
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsr.2021.06.003

Abstract

Introduction: This study investigated the extent to which five human resource management (HRM) practices-systematic selection, extensive training, performance appraisal, high relative compensation, and empowerment-simultaneously predicted later organizational-level injury rates.

Methods: Specifically, the association between these HRM practices (assessed via on-site audits by independent observers) with organizational injury rates collected by a national regulatory agency one and two years later were modeled.

Results: Results from 49 single-site UK organizations indicated that, after controlling for industry-level risk, organization size, and the other four HRM practices, only empowerment predicted lower subsequent organizational-level injury rates. Practical Applications: Findings from the current study have important implications for the design of HRM systems and for organizational-level policies and practices associated with better employee safety.

Keywords: Human resource management; Injuries; Occupational safety.

MeSH terms

Humans
Organizations*
Workforce