Where the Safety Rubber Meets the Shop Floor: A Confirmatory Model of Management Influence on Workplace Safety

Abstract

The role of management in establishing a safe work environment remains a topic that receives less attention in the literature than it deserves. Many authors have focused on safety programs and associated indications of program effects. Prescriptive articles advocating various management behaviors abound. However, there is little empirical evidence that validates the important role management plays in establishing a climate that sustains safe job behaviors. There is even less information about how management influences the safety atmosphere of the workplace. This paper presents a model that links management support, organizational climate, and self-reported safety outcomes. Confirmatory Factor Analysis results indicate that managerial influence on safe behaviors varies as a function of management role (manager/supervisor) and safety outcomes (safety conditions/safety compliance). We developed the model based on data collected in 1992 and confirmed it based on data collected in the same organization in 1995. The results underscore the important role management plays in maximizing workplace safety. Published by the National Safety Council and Elsevier Science Ltd