Improving Safety Climate and Behavior Through a Multifaceted Intervention: Results from a Field Experiment

Safety Science, 103, 293-304.

41 Pages Posted: 21 Dec 2017

See all articles by Babette Bronkhorst

Babette Bronkhorst

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Faculty of Social Sciences

Lars Tummers

Utrecht University

Bram Steijn

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Faculty of Social Sciences

Date Written: 2018

Abstract

Interventions aimed at increasing priority for employee safety could lead to better safety climate and safety behavior of employees. However, current studies reporting on safety climate interventions lack diversity in contexts and settings, they focus mainly on supervisors and do not take into account the implementation process of the intervention. We aim to add to the safety literature by testing the effects of a multifaceted safety climate intervention using a field experimental design. We analyzed data of 520 health care employees in five organizations and studied the effects of the implementation process. Results showed that safety climate and behavior scores were significantly higher at postintervention among the intervention group as compared to the control group, while there were no differences pre-intervention. Results also showed that within the intervention group, employees who experienced more positive changes to work procedures and positive attitudes and actions of their supervisor towards the intervention experienced higher postintervention safety climate and safety behavior. This study presents a new, multifaceted safety climate intervention strategy that can be useful for improving safety climate and safety behavior. It also shows the importance of the implementation process when conducting safety climate interventions.

Keywords: Safety climate, safety behavior, field experiment, senior management, supervisor, coworkers, leadership, implementation process

JEL Classification: M1, M10, M12, M14, O3, O00, L3, L30, L31, L32, L33, L39

Suggested Citation

Bronkhorst, Babette and Tummers, Lars and Steijn, Bram, Improving Safety Climate and Behavior Through a Multifaceted Intervention: Results from a Field Experiment (2018). Safety Science, 103, 293-304., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3089734

Babette Bronkhorst

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Faculty of Social Sciences ( email )

Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
Rotterdam, 3062
Netherlands

Lars Tummers (Contact Author)

Utrecht University ( email )

Vredenburg 138
Utrecht, 3511 BG
Netherlands

Bram Steijn

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Faculty of Social Sciences ( email )

3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands
+31 10 4082634 (Phone)
+31 10 4089099 (Fax)

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