Accident; analysis and prevention
-
The goals of this study were twofold: (1) to confirm a relationship between employee perceptions of psychological safety climate and safety behavior for a sample of workers in the rail industry and (2) to explore the relative strengths of relationships between specific facets of safety climate and safety behavior. Non-management rail maintenance workers employed by a large North American railroad completed a survey (n=421) regarding workplace safety perceptions and behaviors. ⋯ All three facets were significantly associated with safety behavior. Dominance analysis was used to assess the relative importance of each facet as related to the outcome, and work-safety tension evidenced the strongest relationship with safety behavior.
-
The relationship between investment in employee health and non-health outcomes has received little research attention. Drawing from social exchange and climate theory, the current study uses a multilevel approach to examine the implications of worksite health investment for worksite safety and health climate and employee safety compliance and commitment to the worksite. Data were collected from 1932 personnel working on 31 offshore installations operating in UK waters. ⋯ The findings provide support for a strong link between health investment practices and worksite safety and health climate. The results also found a relationship between health investment practices and organizational commitment among employees. These results suggest that health investment practices are associated with committed workforces and climates that reflect a priority on health and safety.
-
Work in the construction industry is considered inherently dangerous, despite the technological improvements regarding the safety of work conditions and equipment. To address the urgent need to identify organizational predictors of safety performance and outcomes among construction workers, the present study examined multi-level effects of two important indicators of safety climate, namely contractor error management climate and worker safety communication, on safety behavior, injury, and pain among union construction workers. ⋯ Our findings suggest that positive safety communication and error management climate are important contributors to improving workplace safety. Specific implications of these results for organizational safety research and practice are discussed.
-
Although trade unions have long been recognized as a critical advocate for employee safety and health, safety climate research has not paid much attention to the role unions play in workplace safety. We proposed a multiple constituency model of workplace safety which focused on three central safety stakeholders: top management, ones' immediate supervisor, and the labor union. Safety climate research focuses on management and supervisors as key stakeholders, but has not considered whether employee perceptions about the priority their union places on safety contributes contribute to safety outcomes. ⋯ Structural equation analyses indicated that union safety values influenced safety outcomes through its association with higher safety motivation, showing a similar effect as that of supervisor safety values. These findings highlight the need for further attention to union-focused measures related to workplace safety as well as further study of retail employees in general. We discuss the practical implications of our findings and identify several directions for future safety research.
-
Comparative Study
Unintentional firearm deaths: a comparison of other-inflicted and self-inflicted shootings.
This study compares other-inflicted and self-inflicted unintentional firearm fatalities. Data come from the National Violent Death Reporting System, a new surveillance system from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data are currently available from 16 states and parts of California for various years 2003-2006. ⋯ In other-inflicted shooting deaths, the shooters were overwhelmingly young (81% under age 25). The shooters in the other-inflicted deaths were primarily friends (43%) or family (47%); brothers were the most common family shooter. To learn how to prevent unintentional injuries, it is critical to have information not only on the victim, but also on the person who inflicted the injury.