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Article
Publication date: 1 January 1995

WILLIAM S. DESTER and DAVID I. BLOCKLEY

The construction industry has a poor safety record. There is a common perception that this is because it is an inherently dangerous industry. It is suggested that the industry…

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Abstract

The construction industry has a poor safety record. There is a common perception that this is because it is an inherently dangerous industry. It is suggested that the industry would be better characterized as one with a poor safety culture and that attempts to improve the safety record will not be fully effective until the safety culture is improved. The relationship between unsafe behaviour and safety culture is discussed together with the difficulties of assessing and managing safety culture. Some of the influences on safety culture in construction are described. The initiative to develop an improvement in the safety culture of construction needs to come from within the industry through a genuine commitment to safety.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 February 2024

Maike Tietschert, Sophie Higgins, Alex Haynes, Raffaella Sadun and Sara J. Singer

Designing and developing safe systems has been a persistent challenge in health care, and in surgical settings in particular. In efforts to promote safety, safety culture, i.e.…

Abstract

Designing and developing safe systems has been a persistent challenge in health care, and in surgical settings in particular. In efforts to promote safety, safety culture, i.e., shared values regarding safety management, is considered a key driver of high-quality, safe healthcare delivery. However, changing organizational culture so that it emphasizes and promotes safety is often an elusive goal. The Safe Surgery Checklist is an innovative tool for improving safety culture and surgical care safety, but evidence about Safe Surgery Checklist effectiveness is mixed. We examined the relationship between changes in management practices and changes in perceived safety culture during implementation of safe surgery checklists. Using a pre-posttest design and survey methods, we evaluated Safe Surgery Checklist implementation in a national sample of 42 general acute care hospitals in a leading hospital network. We measured perceived management practices among managers (n = 99) using the World Management Survey. We measured perceived preoperative safety and safety culture among clinical operating room personnel (N = 2,380 (2016); N = 1,433 (2017)) using the Safe Surgical Practice Survey. We collected data in two consecutive years. Multivariable linear regression analysis demonstrated a significant relationship between changes in management practices and overall safety culture and perceived teamwork following Safe Surgery Checklist implementation.

Details

Research and Theory to Foster Change in the Face of Grand Health Care Challenges
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-655-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 June 2018

Rounaq Nayak and Joanne Zaida Taylor

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges for food inspectors when attempting to assess the food safety culture of a business. It is the eighth article in this issue…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges for food inspectors when attempting to assess the food safety culture of a business. It is the eighth article in this issue of Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, discussing the importance of measuring food safety and quality culture.

Design/methodology/approach

As part of a larger research project, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the current challenges faced by food inspectors in assessing food safety and the future prospects of measuring food safety culture in the UK food system.

Findings

Food inspectors face increasing challenges in their role of assessing not just the visible level of legal compliance but also potential risk within a food business; while aware of the importance of food safety culture, they are unsure how to formally assess it. The UK Food Standards Agency developed a toolkit to assist inspectors in assessing the food safety culture of a business; however, this has been found to be onerous and difficult to implement in practice.

Originality/value

This paper will be of value to practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders involved in the hospitality industry.

Details

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4217

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 26 August 2010

Patrick A. Palmieri, Lori T. Peterson, Bryan J. Pesta, Michel A. Flit and David M. Saettone

Through a number of comprehensive reviews, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has recommended that healthcare organizations develop safety cultures to align delivery system processes…

Abstract

Through a number of comprehensive reviews, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has recommended that healthcare organizations develop safety cultures to align delivery system processes with the workforce requirements to improve patient outcomes. Until health systems can provide safer care environments, patients remain at risk for suboptimal care and adverse outcomes. Health science researchers have begun to explore how safety cultures might act as an essential system feature to improve organizational outcomes. Since safety cultures are established through modification in employee safety perspective and work behavior, human resource (HR) professionals need to contribute to this developing organizational domain. The IOM indicates individual employee behaviors cumulatively provide the primary antecedent for organizational safety and quality outcomes. Yet, many safety culture scholars indicate the concept is neither theoretically defined nor consistently applied and researched as the terms safety culture, safety climate, and safety attitude are interchangeably used to represent the same concept. As such, this paper examines the intersection of organizational culture and healthcare safety by analyzing the theoretical underpinnings of safety culture, exploring the constructs for measurement, and assessing the current state of safety culture research. Safety culture draws from the theoretical perspectives of sociology (represented by normal accident theory), organizational psychology (represented by high reliability theory), and human factors (represented by the aviation framework). By understanding not only the origins but also the empirical safety culture research and the associated intervention initiatives, healthcare professionals can design appropriate HR strategies to address the system characteristics that adversely affect patient outcomes. Increased emphasis on human resource management research is particularly important to the development of safety cultures. This paper contributes to the existing healthcare literature by providing the first comprehensive critical analysis of the theory, research, and practice that comprise contemporary safety culture science.

Details

Strategic Human Resource Management in Health Care
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-948-0

Book part
Publication date: 12 April 2019

Darren Wishart, Bevan Rowland and Klaire Somoray

Driving for work has been identified as potentially one of the riskiest activities performed by workers within the course of their working day. Jurisdictions around the world have…

Abstract

Driving for work has been identified as potentially one of the riskiest activities performed by workers within the course of their working day. Jurisdictions around the world have passed legislation and adopted policy and procedures to improve the safety of workers. However, particularly within the work driving setting, complying with legislation and the minimum safety standards and procedures is not sufficient to improve work driving safety. This chapter outlines the manner in which safety citizenship behavior can offer further improvement to work-related driving safety by acting as a complementary paradigm to improve risk management and current models and applications of safety culture.

Research on concepts associated with risk management and theoretical frameworks associated with safety culture and safety citizenship behavior are reviewed, along with their practical application within the work driving safety setting. A model incorporating safety citizenship behavior as a complementary paradigm to safety culture is proposed. It is suggested that this model provides a theoretical framework to inform future research directions aimed at improving safety within the work driving setting.

Book part
Publication date: 12 April 2019

Sharon Newnam and Carlyn Muir

Road trauma remains a significant concern internationally. Traffic crashes rank within the top three leading causes of death for individuals aged between 15–44 years old, with…

Abstract

Road trauma remains a significant concern internationally. Traffic crashes rank within the top three leading causes of death for individuals aged between 15–44 years old, with nonfatal casualties occurring at around 30 times the rate of fatal incidents. Historically, road safety research has not captured factors relating to driving purpose. However, more recently, researchers have focused on the importance of driving for work. Over a third of traffic volume represents commuting or driving in the line of employment; improving workplace road safety practices represents a tangible way of reducing road trauma. This chapter considers the link between safety culture and best practice in workplace road safety. It is argued that best practice is not a term to define individual safety practices, but a system of practices that create a culture of safety. This research uses data collected on organizations workplace road safety practices within the Australian context. This data has been collected by the National Road Safety Partnership Program (NRSPP); an initiative that constitutes a network of organizations and academics working together to develop a positive road safety culture. Twenty-four case studies are presented of organizations that have implemented workplace road safety programs to improve their safe driving culture. Qualitative analysis was conducted to systematically categorize the safety initiatives and their indicators of success. Almost all case studies expressed the importance of developing a safety-first culture in the workplace. Third-party regulation, internal policy and corporate social responsibility form the foundation of workplace safety. However, it was the culture and attitude towards the safety initiatives that achieved effectiveness in the long-term. The findings of this research support the argument that best practice is best achieved when integrated within a culture that values and prioritizes safety, rather than implemented in isolation to other elements in the workplace system.

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2003

Pedro M. Arezes and A. Sérgio Miguel

The emergence of implementation and certification of structured management systems, such as the occupational health and safety management system, implies that companies should be…

7424

Abstract

The emergence of implementation and certification of structured management systems, such as the occupational health and safety management system, implies that companies should be able to measure the results and achievements from such implementation. This paper focuses on the description and comparison of the traditional indicators of health and safety performance and the use of different safety performance indicators, such as the companies’ safety culture. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the safety measurement performance process and analyze what is the potential role of safety culture in this process.

Details

Measuring Business Excellence, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-3047

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 July 2022

Guodong Ni, Qi Zhang, Yaqi Fang, Ziyao Zhang, Yaning Qiao, Wenshun Wang and Yongliang Deng

The purpose of this paper is to explore the correction mechanism of resilient safety culture on new generation of construction workers (NGCWs)' unsafe behavior and test the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the correction mechanism of resilient safety culture on new generation of construction workers (NGCWs)' unsafe behavior and test the multiple mediation effects of job crafting and perceived work meaningfulness based on the context of Chinese construction industry in order to find a new way to effectively correct the NGCWs' unsafe behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

A theoretical model of correction mechanism was established based on literature research and theoretical deduction. An empirical study was employed based on confirmatory factor analysis and regression analysis with a sample of 404 NGCWs in China.

Findings

The results indicated that resilient safety culture can effectively correct NGCWs' unsafe behavior through job crafting and perceived work meaningfulness. Job crafting and perceived work meaningfulness can play independent and serial mediating roles between resilient safety culture and unsafe behavior.

Research limitations/implications

Research results only represent a short-term law about the correction mechanism of NGCWs' unsafe behavior based on a questionnaire study from China's construction industry. It is necessary to continue to implement a longitudinal study to test it in a relatively long period in future research. The findings also need to be verified based on the young construction workers in other countries.

Practical implications

This study provides a theoretical basis and feasible management reference for construction enterprises in China to correct NGCWs' unsafe behavior from the perspective of resilient safety culture. Furthermore, the construction of resilient safety culture in construction enterprises can help NGCWs better carry out job crafting and perceive the meaning of work.

Originality/value

This paper clarifies the correction mechanism of resilient safety culture on unsafe behavior of NGCWs, and further tests the independent mediating roles and a serial mediating role of job crafting and perceived work meaningfulness between resilient safety culture and unsafe behavior, which fills the research gap about the influence mechanism of resilient safety culture on young construction workers' unsafe behavior and enriches the theoretical system of unsafe behavior correction of construction workers.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 30 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 October 2022

Eric Kodzo Adzivor, Fidelis Emuze and Dillip Kumar Das

The purpose of this article is to determine safety culture indicators that can improve the health and safety performance of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) contractors in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to determine safety culture indicators that can improve the health and safety performance of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) contractors in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

A three-round Delphi method was used. The first round consisted of 31 experts out of which 18 of them rated their agreements with a set of 87 potential safety culture indicators using a 10-point Likert scale of importance (1 = important and 10 = very important) and the 16 experts who completed the final round were given the opportunity to suggest other indicators. The 87 indicators were categorised into 14 core health and safety elements. Indicators that attained a group median value of 5–10 for 50% or more expert ratings were accepted.

Findings

At the end of the third round, a consensus was reached on the indicators when they attracted median scores of 5–10 for at least 50% or more of the health and safety experts rated the indicators between 5 and 10. Out of a total of 87 indicators at the start of the Delphi process, the consensus was reached on 70 that were retained.

Research limitations/implications

The health and safety experts were not given the opportunity to add new indicators to the structured questionnaire until the third round.

Originality/value

This is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to have a consensus by health and safety experts on leading indicator metrics of positive culture of construction safety in Ghana for improved SME construction company’s health and safety performance in Ghana. If these indicators are adopted and used effectively in Ghana, they would ensure positive culture of construction safety and subsequently help to protect construction workers.

Details

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction , vol. 28 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-4387

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 September 2022

Md Aqeel Nasim, Rama Shankar Yadav, Sanket Sunand Dash and Umesh Bamel

This study aims to quantitatively review previous empirical studies on leadership style and safety culture using meta-analysis and identify the most influential leadership style…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to quantitatively review previous empirical studies on leadership style and safety culture using meta-analysis and identify the most influential leadership style across organizations. Further, the moderating effect of riskiness in the organizational process on the relationship between leadership style and safety culture was also done.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a systematic literature review and applied meta-analysis based on 24 empirical studies to calculate the effect size for the relationships between leadership style and safety culture.

Findings

A substantial effect size between leadership style and safety culture (r = 0.50). It was interesting to note the significant relationship between leadership and safety culture, irrespective of high- and low-risk organizations. Moreover, empowering leadership style (r = 0.60) emerged as the most influential leadership style across all organizations and in high-risk organizations.

Originality/value

The meta-analysis established leadership as an essential antecedent of safety culture and suggests implications for future research and practice related to safety and leadership.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 31 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

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