In Search of Differences in the Perception of Safety Climate by Employees of an International Manufacturing Company

Abstract

The implementation of effective workforce safety programmes ought to be linked to an understanding of the specificity of the work in the organisation concerned, taking into consideration the assessment of the level of safety expressed by the professional group representing it at the executive level. The main purpose of the study presented in the paper, which is part of a broader project of researching safety culture in the organisation, is a diagnosis of the safety climate in the Polish branch of an international manufacturing company. The following research question was formulated: Is the examined international manufacturing company a homogeneous organisation from the point of view of assessing its safety culture? The research was exploratory. In total, 203 respondents, which amounts to 35% of the employees, participated in the study. The selection of the sample was representative—in proportion to the number of employees in individual departments and their positions in the examined organisation. The presented paper includes an analysis of the results obtained on the basis of the abbreviated version of the Safety Climate Questionnaire, a self-developed tool to assess ten separate dimensions of safety climate. The results of a single-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) along with post hoc tests prove that there is a statistically significant difference between the respondents representing different positions in the organisation and different areas of employment. The position held in the company significantly differentiates the employees in a statistically significant way—in eight out of eleven diagnostic areas, including the Summary Safety Climate Indicator (SSCI). In the case of department, statistically significant differences were found in seven out of eleven diagnostic areas. Education proved to be the factor that differentiates the respondents the least in terms of the assessment of workplace safety climate. Statistically significant differences occurred only in three out of eleven diagnostic areas. The observed differences in the assessment of the dimensions of workplace safety climate point to the need for the promotion of more diversified and individualised measures, taking into account the specificity of work and the nature of hazards in a given position, and the creation of practical safety programmes not only in the procedural and technical dimensions but also in social and psychological ones.

A multivariate approach towards the measurement of active employee participation in the area of occupational health and safety in different sectors of the economy

“…Are the employer's safety-related activities consulted with employees? (Znajmiecka et al, 2022); Does the safety manager instruct the personnel? (Ghahramani & Salminen, 2019;Paas et al, 2015aPaas et al, , 2015b; Does the employee usually participate in consultations or decision-making regarding employment relations and working conditions matters?…”

“…Only in a few cases can you find precise wording referring to specific areas of occupational health and safety, e.g. I was involved in the process of assessing occupational risk related to my work station (Znajmiecka et al, 2022); Employees actively participate in safety and health training by identifying needed training topics, assisting with development and delivery of training, and assisting with on-the-job training and mentoring of new employees (Moore et al, 2022).…”

“…Moreover, in the literature, aspects of OHS participation are reduced to just a few questions/issues covered by an assessment (usually on a Likert scale), e.g. Moore et al (2022) defined three questions, Znajmiecka et al (2022) defined four questions, and Vinodkumar and Bhasi (2011) in their questionnaire reduced the entire area of employee participation in OHS to five assessed issues of OHS participation. As the researchers in the aforementioned models do not distinguish between active and passive OHS participation, the above-presented sets of few questions include both categories: consultation and information.…”

“…An issue of employee participation in the area of OHS was raised by researchers but only as a minor element of occupational health and safety management (Bayram, 2020;Mirza et al, 2022;Zhao et al, 2022;Erbaş, 2022;Tear et al, 2020;Hu et al, 2020;Lee et al, 2019;Ghahramani & Salminen, 2019;Skład, 2019;Lyu et al, 2018Shen et al, 2017;Hrenov et al, 2017;Cooper, 2015;Skeepers & Mbohwa, 2015;Masso, 2015;Paas et al, 2015aPaas et al, , 2015bVinodkumar & Bhasi, 2011;Coutrot, 2009;Walters & Nichols, 2007;Mygind et al, 2006;Butler & Park, 2005;Reilly et al, 1995;Gevers, 1983). Researchers also analyse the aspect of employee participation in occupational health and safety as one of the many dimensions building a safety culture (Znajmiecka et al, 2022;Tear et al, 2020).…”