Safety culture and safety climate: How far have we come and where could we be heading?

Journal of Occupational Health and Safety - Australia and New Zealand

Volumn 24, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 249-271

  Glendon, Ian ^a  

^a GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

Methodology; Modelling; Outcomes; Safety climate; Safety culture

Indexed keywords

EID: 50549087219     PISSN: 08156409     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (146)

1. Glendon, A. Editorial. Safety culture: snapshot of a developing concept. J Occup Health Safety - Aust NZ 2008, 24(3): 179-189. A number of agency reports have also reviewed the literature in this field.
2. International Nuclear Safety Advisory group. Summary report on the post-accident review meeting on the Chernobyl accident. Report no 75-INSAG-1, Safe Series. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency, 1986.
3. International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group. Safety culture. Report no 75-INSAG-4, Safety Series. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency, 1991.
4. Zohar, D. Safety climate in industrial organisations: theoretical and applied implications. J Appl Psychol 1980, 65(l): 96-102.
5. Choudry, R, Fang, D and Mohamed, S. The nature of safety culture: a survey of the state-of-the-art. Safety Science 2007, 45(10): 993-1012.
6. Choudry, R, Fang, D and Mohamed, S. Developing a model for construction safety culture. Journal Management in Engineering 2007, 23(4): 207-212.
7. Clarke, S. Safety culture: under-specified and overrated? International Journal of Management Reviews 2000, 2(1): 65-90.
8. Clarke, S. The relationship between safety climate and safety performance: a meta-analytic review. J Occup Health Psychol 2006a, 11(4): 315-327.
9. Clarke, S. Contrasting perceptual, attitudinal and dispositional approaches to accident involvement in the workplace. Safety Science 2006b, 44(6): 537-550.
10. Collins, A and Gadd, S. Safety culture: a review of the literature (HSL/2002/25). Sheffield, UK: Health and Safety Laboratory, 2002.
11. Cooper, M. Towards a model of safety culture. Safety Science 2000, 36(2):111-136.
12. Cooper, M and Phillips, R. Exploratory analysis of the safety climate and safety behaviour relationship. J Safety Res 2004, 35(5): 497-512.
13. Flin, R, Mearns, K, O'Connor, P and Bryden, R. Measuring safety climate: identifying the common features. Safety Science 2000, 34(1-3): 177-192.
14. Glendon, A, Clarke, S and McKenna, E. Human safety and risk management (2nd ed). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, 2006.
15. Guldenmund, F. The nature of safety culture: a review of theory and research. Safety Science 2000, 34(1-3): 215-257.
16. Guldenmund, F. The use of questionnaires in safety culture research - an evaluation. Safety Science 2007, 45(6): 723-743.
17. Health and Safety Executive. A review of safety culture and safety climate literature for the development of the safety culture inspection toolkit. Research report no 367. Norwich, UK: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 2005.
18. Seo, D-C, Torabi, M, Blair, E and Ellis, N. A cross-validation of safety climate scale using confirmatory factor analytic approach. J Safety Res 2004, 35(4): 427-445.
19. Desai, V, Roberts, K and Ciavarelli, A. The relationship between safety climate and recent accidents: behavioral learning and cognitive attributions. Hum Factors 2006, 48(4): 639-650.
20. Olive, C, O'Connor, T and Mannan, M. Relationship of safety culture and process safety. J Hazard Mater 2006, 130(1-2): 133-140.
21. Díaz-Cabrera, D, Hernández-Fernaud, E and Isla-Díaz, R. An evaluation of a new instrument to measure organisational safety culture values and practices. Accid Anal Prev 2007, 39(6): 1202-1211.
22. Sorensen, J. Safety culture: a survey of the state-of-the-art. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2002, 76(2): 189-204.
23. Morley, F and Harris, D. Ripples in a pond: an open system model of the evolution of safety culture. Int J Occup Saf Ergon 2006, 12(l): 3-15.
24. Baram, M and Schoebel, M. Editorial. Safety culture and behavioral change at the workplace. Safety Science 2007, 45(6): 631-636, at p 633.
25. Hopkins, A. Studying organisational Cultures and their effects on safety. Safety Science 2006, 44(10): 875-889.
26. Farrington-Darby, T, Pickup, L and Wilson, J. Safety culture in railway maintenance. Safety Science 2005, 43(1): 39-60.
27. Baram, M and Schoebel, M. Editorial. Safety culture and behavioral change at the workplace. Safety Science 2007, 45(6): 631-636.
28. Zohar, D. Safety climate: conceptual and measurement issues. In Quick, J and Tetrick, L (eds). Handbook of occupational health psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2003, pp 123-142.
29. Zohar, D. Safety climate and beyond: a multi-level multi-climate framework. Safety Science 2008, 46(3): 376-387.
30. Zohar, D and Luria, G. Climate as a social-cognitive construction of supervisory safety practices: scripts as proxy of behavior patterns. J Appl Psychol 2004, 89(2): 322-333.
31. Pousette, A, Larsson, S and Törner, M. Safety climate cross-validation, strength and prediction of safety behaviour. Safety Science 2008, 46(3): 398-404.
32. Hahn, S and Murphy, L. A short sale for measuring safety climate. Safety Science (in press).
33. Clarke, S. Perceptions of organizational safety: implications for the development of safety culture. Journal of Organizational Behavior 1999, 20(2): 185-198.
34. Guldenmund, op cit, 2007, p 741.
35. Larsson, S, Pousette, A and Törner, M. Psychological climate and safety in the construction industry - mediated influence on safety behaviour. Safety Science 2008, 46(3): 405-412.
36. Meliá, J, Mearns, K, Silva, S and Lima, M. Safety climate responses and the perceived risk of accidents in the construction industry. Safety Science (in press).
37. Neal, A and Griffin M. A study of the lagged relationships among safety climate, safety motivation, safety behavior, and accidents at the individual and group levels. J Appl Psychol 2006, 91(4): 946-953.
38. Westrum, R. Cultures with requisite imagination. In Wise, J, Hopkin, V and Stager, P (eds). Verification and validation of complex systems: human factors issues. New York: Springer, 1991, pp 401-416.
39. Westrum, R. Organisational dynamics and safety. In McDonald, N, Johnston, N and Fuller, R (eds). Applications of psychology to the aviation system. Chippenham, UK: Avebury Aviation, 1995, pp 75-80.
40. Westrum, R. A typology of organisational cultures. Qual Saf Health Care 2004, 13(Suppl II): ii22-ii27.
41. Lawrie, M, Parker, D and Hudson, P. Investigating employee perceptions of a framework of safety culture maturity. Safety Science 2006, 44(3): 259-276.
42. Parker, D, Lawrie, M and Hudson, P. A framework for understanding the development of organisational safety culture. Safety Science 2006, 44(6): 551-562.
43. Gordon, R, Kirwan, B and Perrin, E. Measuring safety culture in a research and development centre: a comparison of two methods in the air traffic management domain. Safety Science 2007, 45(6): 669-695.
44. Zohar, D and Luria, G. A multi-level model of safety climate: cross-level relationships between organization and group-level climates. J Appl Psychol 2005, 90(4): 616-628.
45. Murphy, K. Organisational psychology's greatest hits and misses: a personal view. In Glendon, A, Thompson, B and Myors, B. Advances in organisational psychology. Brisbane: Australian Academic Press, 2007, pp 11-35.
46. Lee, T-Z, Wu, C-H and Hong, C-W. An empirical investigation of the influence of safety climate on organizational citizenship behavior in Taiwan's facilities. Int J Occup Saf Ergon 2007, 13(3): 255-269.
47. Jeffcott, S, Pidgeon, N, Weyman, A and Walls, J. Risk, trust, and safety culture in UK train operating companies. Risk Anal 2006, 26(5): 1105-1121.
48. Leveson, N, Dulac, N, Zipkin, D, Cutcher-Gershenfeld, J, Carroll, J and Barrett, B. Engineering resilience into safety-critical systems. In Hollnagel, E, Woods, D and Leveson, N (eds). Resilience engineering: concepts and precepts. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2006, pp 95-123.
49. Håvold, J. Measuring occupational safety: from safety culture to safety orientation? Policy and Practice in Health and Safety 2005, 3(l): 85-105.
50. Håvold, J. National cultures and safety orientation: a study of seafarers working for Norwegian shipping companies. Work & Stress 2007, 21(2): 173-195.
51. Marais, K, Saleh, J and Leveson, N. Archetypes for organizational safety. Safety Science 2006, 44(7): 565-582.
52. Ek, Å, Akselsson, R, Arvidsson, M and Johansson, C. Safety culture in Swedish air traffic control. Safety Science 2007, 45(7): 791-811.
53. Health and Safety Commission. Third report: organising for safety. Advisory Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations, Study Group on Human Factors. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1993.
54. Grote, G. Diagnosis of safety culture: a replication and extension towards assessing "safe" organizational change processes. Safety Science 2008, 46(3): 450-460.
55. Wu, T-C, Liu, C-W and Lu, M-C. Safety climate in university and college laboratories: impact of organizational and individual factors. J Safety Res 2007, 38(l): 91-102.
56. Fernádez-Muñiz, B, Montes-Peón, J and Vázquez-Ordás, C. Safety culture: analysis of the causal relationships between its key dimensions. J Safety Res 2007, 38(6): 627-641.
57. Reason, J. Managing the risks of organizational accidents. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1997.
58. Guldenmund, op cit, 2007, p 735.
59. Burns, C, Mearns, K and McGeorge, P. Explicit and implicit trust within safety culture. Risk Anal 2006, 26(5): 1139-1150.
60. Zohar and Luria, op cit, 2005, p 625.
61. Findley, M, Smith, S, Gorski, J and O'neil, M. Safety climate differences among job positions in a nuclear decommissioning and demolition industry: employees' self-reported safety attitudes and perceptions. Safety Science 2007, 45(8): 875-889, at p 886.
62. Ibid, p 885.
63. Yule, S, Flin, R and Murdy, A. The role of management and safety climate in preventing risk-taking at work. International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management 2007, 7(2): 137-151.
64. DeJoy, D, Schaffer, B, Wilson, M, Vandenberg, R and Butts, M. Creating safer workplaces: assessing the determinants and role of safety climate. J Safety Res 2004, 35(l): 81-90.
65. Neal, A, Griffin, M and Hart, P. The impact of organizational climate on safety climate and individual behavior. Safety Science 2000, 34(1-3): 99-109.
66. Banks, T, Davey, J and Brownlow, D. Driver education and safety climate in an emergency services fleet. J Occup Health Safety - Aust NZ 2006, 22(4): 341-350.
67. Wills, A, Watson, B and Biggs, H. Safety climate and work-related driving in Australian organisations. In Glendon, A, Thompson, B and Myors, B. Advances in organisational psychology. Brisbane: Australian Academic Press, 2007, pp 175-195.
68. Flin, R. Measuring safety culture in healthcare: a case for accurate diagnosis. Safety Science 2007, 45(6): 653-667.
69. Lin, S-H, Tang, W-J, Miao, J-Y, Wang, Z-M and Wang, P-X. Safety climate measurement at workplace in China: a validity and reliability assessment. Safety Science (in press).
70. Wadick, P. Safety culture among subcontractors in the NSW domestic housing industry. J Occup Health Safety - Aust NZ 2007, 23(2): 143-152.
71. Clarke, S and Ward, K. The role of leader influence tactics and safety climate in engaging employees' safety participation. Risk Anal 2006, 26(5): 1175-l185.
72. Barling, J, Loughlin, C and Kelloway, E. Development and test of a model linking transformational leadership and occupational safety. J Appl Psychol 2002, 87(3): 488-496.
73. Kelloway, E, Mullen, J and Francis, L. Divergent effects of transformational and passive leadership on employee safety. J Occup Health Psychol 2006, 11(1): 76-86.
74. Zohar, D. The effects of leadership dimensions, safety climate, and assigned priorities on minor injuries in work groups. Journal of Organizational Behavior 2002, 23(1): 75-92.
75. Wu, T-C, Chen, C-H and Li, C-C. A correlation among safety leadership, safety climate and safety performance. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 2008, 21(3): 307-318.
76. Wu, T-C, Li, C-C, Chen, C-H and Shu, C-M. Interaction effects of organizational and individual factors on safety leadership in college and university laboratories. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 2008, 21(3): 239-254.
77. Chinda, T and Mohamed, S. Structural equation model of construction safety culture. Journal of Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 2008, 15(2): 114-131, at p 128.
78. Johnson, S. The predictive validity of safety culture. J Safety Res 2007, 38(5): 511-521.
79. Nielsen, K, Rasmussen, K, Glasscock, D and Spangenberg, S. Changes in safety climate and accidents at two identical manufacturing plants. Safety Science 200 46(3): 440-449.
80. Zacharatos, A, Barling, J and Iverson, R. High-performance work systems and occupational safety. J Appl Psychol 2005, 90(1): 77-93.
81. Huang, Y-H, Ho, M, Smith, G and Chen P. Safety climate and self-reported injury: assessing the mediating role of employee safety control. Accid Anal Prev 2006, 38(3): 425-433.
82. Tharaldsen, J, Olsen, E and Rundmo, T. A longitudinal study of safety climate on the Norwegian continental shelf. Safety Science 2008, 46(3): 427-439.
83. Wallace, J, Popp, E and Mondore, S. Safety climate as a mediator between foundation climates and occupational accidents: a group-level investigation. J Appl Psychol 2006, 91(3): 681-688.
84. Oliver, A, Tomás J and Cheyne, A. Safety climate: its nature and predictive power. Psychology in Spain 2006, 10(1): 26-36.
85. Zhou, Q, Fang, D and Wang, X. A method to identify strategies for the improvement of human safety behaviour by considering safety climate and personal experience. Safety Science (in press).
86. Neal, A and Griffin, M. Safety climate and safety at work. In Frone, M and Barling, J (eds). The psychology of workplace safety. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2004, pp 15-34.
87. Clarke, S. Safety climate in an automobile manufacturing plant: the effects of work environment, job communication and safety attitudes on accidents and unsafe behaviour. Personnel Review 2006, 35(4): 413-430.
88. Clarke, S and Robertson, I. A meta-analytic review of the big five personality factors and accident involvement in occupational and non-occupational settings. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 2005, 78(3): 355-376.
89. Nahrgang, J, Morgeson, F and Hofmann, D. Predicting safety performance: a meta-analysis of safety and organizational constructs. In the proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology, New York, April 2007.
90. Clarke, op cit, 2006b, p 545.
91. Clarke, op cit, 2006b, p 546.
92. Clarke, op cit, 2006b, p 542.
93. Clarke, op cit, 2006a, p 322.
94. Grote, G. Understanding and assessing safety culture through the tens of organizational management of uncertainty. Safety Science 2007, 45(6): 637-652.
95. Thornton, M. The retreat from the critical: social science research in the corporatised university. Australian Universities Review 2008, 50(1): 5-10.
96. Mark, B et al. Does safety climate moderate the influence of staffing adequacy and work conditions on nurse injuries? J Safety Res 2007, 38(4): 431-446.
97. Hofmann, D and Mark, B. An investigation of the relationship between safety climate and medication errors as well as other nurse and patient outcomes. Personnel Psychology 2006, 59(4): 847-869.
98. Clarke, S and Flitcroft, C. EfFects of transformational leadership on perceived safety climate: a longitudinal study. J Occup Health Safety - Aust NZ 2008, 24(3): 237-247.
99. Smith, G, Huang, Y, Ho, M and Chen, P. The relationship between safety climate and injury rates across industries: the need to adjust for injury hazards. Accid Anal Prev 2006, 38(3): 556-562.
100. Gendon, A and Evans, B. Safety climate in Australian railways. In Wilson, J, Norris, B, Clarke, T and Mills, A (eds). People and rail systems: human factors at the heart of the railway. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2007, pp 409-417.
101. Gouldner, A. Cosmopolitans and locals: towards an analysis of latent social roles I. Administrative Science Quarterly 1957, 2(3): 281-306.
102. Gouldner, A. Cosmopolitans and locals: towards an analysis of latent social roles II. Administrative Science Quarterly 1958, 2(4): 444-480.
103. Spector, P, Coulter, M, Stockwell, H and Matz, M. Perceived violence climate: a new construct and its relationship to workplace physical violence and verbal aggression, and their potential consequences. Work & Stress 2007, 21(2): 117-130.
104. Evans, B, Glendon, A and Creed, P. Development and initial validation of an aviation safety climate scale. J Safety Res 2007, 38(6): 675-682.
105. Gibbons, A, von Thaden, T and Wiegmann, D. Development and initial validation of a survey for assessing safety culture within commercial flight operations. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology 2006, 16(2): 215-238.
106. Griffin, M and Neal, A. Perceptions of safety at work: a framework for linking safety climate to safety performance, knowledge, and motivation. J Occup Health Psychol 2000, 5(3): 347-358, at p 348.
107. Zohar, D. A group-level model of safety climate: testing the effect of group climate on microaccidents in manufacturing jobs. J Appl Psychol 2000, 85(4): 587-596.
108. Hsu, S, Lee, C-C, Wa, M-C and Takano, K. A cross-cultural study of organizational factors on safety: Japanese vs Taiwanese oil refinery plants. Accid Anal Prev 2008, 40(1): 24-34.
109. Huang, Y-H, Chen, J-C, DeArmond, S, Cigularov, K and Chen P. Roles of safety climate and shift work on perceived injury risk: a multi-level analysis. Accid Anal Prev 2007, 39(6): 1088-1096.
110. Podsakoff, P, MacKenzie, S, Lee, J-Y and Podsakoff, N. Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. J Appl Psychol 2003, 88(5): 879-903.
111. Ek, Å and Akselsson, R. Aviation on the ground: safety culture in a ground handling company. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology 2007, 17(1): 59-76.
112. Nicholls, M, Orr, C, Okubo, M and Loftus, A. Satisfaction guaranteed: the effect of spatial biases on responses to Likert scales. Psychol Sci 2006, 17(12): 1027-1028.
113. Guldenmund, op cit, 2007, p 736.
114. Grote, op cit, 2007, p 647.
115. Hudson, P. Implementing a safety culture in a major multinational. Safety Science 2007, 45(6): 697-722.
116. Mohamed, S, Ali, T and Tam W. National culture and safe work behaviour of construction workers in Pakistan. Safety Science (in press).
117. Haukelid, K. Theories of (safety) culture revisited - an anthropological approach. Safety Science 2008, 46(3): 413-426.
118. Westrum, op cit, 2004, p ii22.
119. Mearns, K and Yule, S. The role of national culture in determining safety performance: challenges for the global oil and gas industry. Safety Science (in press).
120. Parker et al, op cit, p 560.
121. Hopkins, A. Managing major hazards: the lessons of the Moure Mine disaster. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1999.
122. Hopkins, A. Lessons from Longford. Sydney: CCH Australia Limited, 2000.
123. Hopkins, A. A culture of denial: sociological similarities between the Moura and Gretley mine disasters. J Occup Health Safety - Aust NZ 2000, 16(1): 29-36.
124. Hopkins, A. Lessons from Longford: the trial. Sydney: CCH Australia Limited, 2002.
125. Hopkins, A. Safety, culture and risk. Sydney: CCH Australia Limited, 2005.
126. Hopkins, op cit, 2006, p 880.
127. Ibid, p 886.
128. McInerney, P. Interim report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Waterfall rail accident. Sydney: Government of New South Wales, 2004.
129. Ministry of Transport. Waterfall 31 January 2003: railway safety investgation final report. Sydney: Government of New South Wales, 2003.
130. McInerney, P. Final report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Glenbrook rail accident. Sydney: Government of New South Wales, 2001.
131. McInerney, P. Final report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Waterfall rail accident. Sydney: Government of New South Wales, 2005.
132. US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. The report of the BP US refineries independent safety review panel. Washington, DC: CSB, 2007. Website at www.bp.com/bakerpanelreport. Accessed 2 March 2007.
133. Ibid, p xii.
134. Ibid, p 60.
135. Ibid, p 95.
136. Valais, A. Editorial. Safety culture and safety management. J Occup Health Safety - Aust NZ 2007, 23(1): 3-6.
137. Rao, S. Safety culture and accident analysis - a sociomanagement approach based on organizational safety social capital. Journal of Hazardous Materials 2007, 142(3): 730-740.
138. Huang, op cit, 2007, p 1094.
139. Zacharatos, A and Barling, J. High-performance work systems and occupational safety. In Barling, J and Frone, M (eds). The psychology of workplace safety. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2004, pp 203-222.
140. Hopkins, A. The problem of defining high reliability organisations. Working paper 51. Canberra: National Research Centre fbr OHS Regulation, The Australian National University, 2007.
141. Roberts, K and Bea, R. Must accidents happen? Lessons from high-reliability organisations. Academy of Management Executive 2001, 15(3): 70-79.
142. Department of Transport. MV Herald of Free Enterprise, report of court no 8074: formal investigation. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1987.
143. Reason, J. Human error. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
144. Glendon, A. Safety culture. In Karwoski, W (ed). International encyclopedia of ergonomics and human factors (2nd ed). London: Taylor & Francis, 2006, pp 2287-2294.
145. Fisher, C. Experience sampling methodology in organisational psychology. In Glendon, AThompson, B and Myors, B (eds). Advances in organisational psycholoqy. Brisbane: Australian Academic Press, 2007, pp 403-425.
146. Hudson, op cit, p 699.