Safety climate in OHSAS 18001-certified organisations: Antecedents and consequences of safety behaviour

• Published in: Accident analysis and prevention 2012-03, Vol.45, p.745-758
• Main Authors: Fernández-Muñiz, Beatriz, Montes-Peón, José Manuel, Vázquez-Ordás, Camilo José
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accident analysis; Accidents, Occupational - legislation & jurisprudence; Accidents, Occupational - prevention & control; Climate; Communication; Cooperative Behavior; Efficiency, Organizational - legislation & jurisprudence; Efficiency, Organizational - standards; Humans; Job Satisfaction; Management; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Models, Organizational; Occupational Health - legislation & jurisprudence; Occupational Health - standards; OHSAS 18001; Organizational Policy; Personnel Management - legislation & jurisprudence; Personnel Management - standards; Quality Assurance, Health Care - legislation & jurisprudence; Safety; Safety behaviour; Safety climate; Safety management; Spain; Structural equation modelling; Wounds and Injuries - prevention & control
• ISSN: 0001-4575; 1879-2057
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2011.10.002

► Safety behaviour affects safety performance (accidents and incidents). ► Safety behaviour affects employee satisfaction. ► Safety behaviour affects firm competitiveness. ► Safety behaviour depends directly on communication and indirectly on management's commitment. ► Safety performance directly affects employee satisfaction and indirectly (via employee satisfaction) affects firm competitiveness. The occupational health and safety standard OHSAS 18001 has gained considerable acceptance worldwide, and firms from diverse sectors and of varying sizes have implemented it. Despite this, very few studies have analysed safety management or the safety climate in OHSAS 18001-certified organisations. The current work aims to analyse the safety climate in these organisations, identify its dimensions, and propose and test a structural equation model that will help determine the antecedents and consequences of employees’ safety behaviour. For this purpose, the authors carry out an empirical study using a sample of 131 OHSAS 18001-certified organisations located in Spain. The results show that management's commitment, and particularly communication, have an effect on safety behaviour and on safety performance, employee satisfaction, and firm competitiveness. These findings are particularly important for management since they provide evidence about the factors that should be encouraged to reduce risks and improve performance in this type of organisation.