Human and organizational factors in offshore safety

Mearns, Kathryn; Flin, Rhona; Gordon, R. G.; Fleming, Michael P.

doi:10.1080/026783701102678370110066616

Cited by 191 publications

(134 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…This definition is similar to previously examined constructs such as work-safety tension, i.e., workers perceive that working safely is at odds with effectively doing their jobs (Brown and Holmes, 1986;Dedobbeleer and Beland, 1991;Morrow et al, 2010), and work pressure and safety rules (Wills et al, 2006) which were influential in predicting safety behaviors amongst drivers, production and construction workers. These findings are consistent with Mearns et al (2001) who found that unsafe behavior, in a sample of off-shore oil workers, was primarily predicted by perceived pressure for production.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Employees' perceptions of safety climate in the organization were assessed using 26 items from the Offshore Safety Questionnaire (OSQ), developed from previous research into safety climate in offshore environments (Mearns et al, 1997;Fleming, 2001;Mearns et al, 2003). The questionnaire was chosen due to its use in previous studies and range of measures available (Fleming, 2001).…”

Section: Safety Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our study is also restricted to three dimensions of safety climate (Mearns et al, 1997;Fleming, 2001) and one measure of unsafe behavior (i.e. risk behavior).…”

Section: Limitations and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Safety climate dimensions as predictors for risk behavior

Bosak

Coetsee

Cullinane

2013

Accident Analysis & Prevention

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This study examines the interactive relationship between three dimensions of safety climate (management commitment to safety, priority of safety, and pressure for production), and their impact on risk behavior reported by employees. The sample consisted of 623 employees from a chemical manufacturing organization in South Africa. Hierarchical regression analyses were carried out to test the direct effects and the interaction effect of the three safety climate dimensions on risk behavior. The results showed that, as expected, employees' risk behavior was negatively related to management commitment to safety and priority of safety and positively related to pressure for production. Moreover, as expected, the three-way interaction between management commitment to safety, priority of safety and pressure for production was significant. When pressure for production was high, management commitment to safety was positively related to risk behavior, regardless of level of priority of safety on plant. When pressure for production was low, the effect of management commitment to safety on risk behavior was nullified under conditions of high, as compared to low priority of safety on plant. These findings highlight the importance of managerial commitment to safety in contexts where employees experience tensions between production deadlines and safety procedures.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Safety Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

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Safety climate dimensions as predictors for risk behavior

Bosak

Coetsee

Cullinane

2013

Accident Analysis & Prevention

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“…The importance of management attitudes is again highlighted in this study, justifying the importance attached to it by other researchers (e.g., Mearns et al, 2001Mearns et al, , 2003. Either directly, or indirectly, it influenced every variable in the model.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

“…Individual attitude towards safety is often used as a marker variable for safety climate (e.g., Mearns et al, 2001). Safety climate studies have also looked at the influence of subjective norms.…”

Section: The Theory Of Planned Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Safety climate and the Theory of Planned Behavior: Towards the prediction of unsafe behavior

Fogarty

Shaw

2010

Accident Analysis & Prevention

229

177

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[Abstract] The present study is concerned with the human factors that contribute to violations in aviation maintenance. Much of our previous research in this area has been based on safety climate surveys and the analysis of relations among core dimensions of climate. In this study, we tap into mainstream psychological theory to help clarify the mechanisms underlying the links between climate and behavior. Specifically, we demonstrate the usefulness of Ajzen's (1991Ajzen's ( , 2001) Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to understanding violation behaviors in aircraft maintenance. A questionnaire was administered to 307 aircraft maintenance workers. Constructs measured by the survey included perceptions of management attitudes to safety, own attitudes to violations, intention to violate, group norms, workplace pressures, and violations. A model based on the TPB illustrated hypothetical connections among these variables. Path analyses using AMOS suggested some theoretically justifiable modifications to the model. Fit statistics of the revised model were excellent with intentions, group norms, and personal attitudes combining to explain 50% of the variance in self-reported violations. The model highlighted the importance of management attitudes and group norms as direct and indirect predictors of violation behavior. We conclude that the TPB is a useful tool for understanding the psychological background to the procedural violations so often associated with incidents and accidents.

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