Proactive Safety Culture Research Articles

Perceived Leadership Support, Safety Citizenship, and Employee Safety Behavior in the Construction Industry: The Role of Safety Learning

The construction industry faces significant challenges in ensuring worker safety, encompassing both physical hazards and mental health concerns. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory (SET), this study explores the impact of perceived leadership support (PLS) on employee safety behavior (ESB) and safety citizenship behavior (SCB), focusing on the mediating role of SCB and the moderating effect of safety learning (SL). A quantitative approach was employed, collecting a sample size of 410 construction workers from various companies within the Turkish construction sector. Data were collected through electronic questionnaires and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results reveal that PLS positively influences both ESB and SCB. Additionally, SCB mediates the relationship between PLS and ESB, while SL moderates the effect of PLS on both SCB and ESB, further strengthening the positive relationships. This study highlights the critical role of leadership support and safety learning in promoting safer behaviors within the construction industry, suggesting that organizations should cultivate a proactive safety culture to enhance safety outcomes.

Exploring the relationship between patient safety culture and the full-range leadership theory in primary care settings: a conceptual analysis

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the conceptual relationship between full-range leadership theory (FRLT) and patient safety culture in primary care settings, aiming to understand how leadership styles influence the development and sustainability of a culture prioritizing patient safety.Design/methodology/approachUsing a conceptual analysis approach, the study builds a theoretical framework that integrates FRLT – which includes transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles – with the elements of patient safety culture. This framework serves as the basis for a comprehensive literature review, allowing for the formulation of hypotheses regarding the impact of each leadership style on patient safety culture.FindingsThe analysis demonstrates that transformational leadership bolsters patient safety culture by fostering open communication, encouraging error reporting and facilitating continuous improvement. Transactional leadership yields mixed effects, effectively supporting compliance and operational outcomes but showing limitations in promoting a proactive safety culture. Conversely, laissez-faire leadership is associated with negative outcomes for patient safety culture, mainly due to its passive and detached approach.Originality/valueThe originality of this study is rooted in its focused examination of FRLT’s impact on patient safety culture within primary care settings, the development of a unique conceptual framework and its contribution of actionable insights for health-care leadership. These elements collectively advance the understanding of how leadership can enhance patient safety culture, providing a solid foundation for future research and practical application in primary care environments.

Exploring the Depth of Patient Safety and Care: An Investigation into the Knowledge and Attitudes of Healthcare Students Across Undergraduate, Graduate, and Postgraduate Levels

Background: Patient safety is a cornerstone of healthcare education, aiming to minimize harm to patients through the reduction of errors. The global emphasis on enhancing patient safety has led to the development of various tools and curricula designed to foster a culture of safety among healthcare professionals, including dental students. With the World Health Organization's endorsement of the Patient Safety Curriculum Guide, there's a recognized need to integrate patient safety principles comprehensively into healthcare training programs. Objective: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes towards patient safety among dental undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students across private and public sector institutes in Karachi, utilizing the Attitude to Patient Safety Questionnaire version III (APSQ-III) as a measure. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted, enrolling 180 participants through convenience sampling from both private and public dental schools in Karachi. The APSQ-III, a validated tool comprising 33 items across nine domains of patient safety, was employed to gather data on students' perceptions. Statistical analysis involved mean score calculations and reliability assessment using Cronbach's alpha. Results: The majority of participants were female (78.9%), with a significant number of undergraduates (169) compared to postgraduates (11). Public sector institutions accounted for a larger share of participants (98) than private (82). Overall, students demonstrated positive attitudes towards patient safety, with mean scores across all domains exceeding 5 on a 7-point Likert scale. Notably, Safety Training and Error Reporting Confidence were highlighted, with postgraduates showing particularly high scores in these areas. The reliability of the APSQ-III in this context was confirmed with a Cronbach's alpha greater than 0.8. Conclusion: The study underscores the utility of the APSQ-III in dentistry for evaluating patient safety perceptions, revealing generally positive attitudes and a sound base of knowledge among dental students in Karachi. These findings advocate for the continued emphasis on patient safety education within dental curricula to cultivate a proactive safety culture.

Proactive safety culture in Nigeria through engineering education: A key to the prevention of catastrophic incidents in the industry

Advances made in promoting a culture of preparedness through disaster risk reduction (DRR) initiatives are strong building blocks to promote more comprehensive changes at the policy level and strengthen resilience in the everyday lives of children, families, schools, and the communities they serve. Proactive safety entails constantly ensuring the safety efficacy of systems, procedures, and people. Process safety entails the identification and understanding of potential hazards, the evaluation of consequences, safeguards, and risks, and the addition of layers of protection to prevent and/or mitigate incidents. The purpose of this study is to review the proactive safety culture in Nigeria through engineering education as a key to the prevention of catastrophic incidents in the industry. A strong safety culture is required to protect employees, but it is especially important for protecting students and developing their skills and awareness of safety. A questionnaire was developed to obtain feedback from industry experts and other stakeholders on the appropriate contents of an undergraduate course on safety that will produce safety-conscious engineering graduates and ultimately a culture of safety in Nigeria. These questions were asked in the following areas: safety assessment in Nigeria, importance of safety education, and safety courses for engineering students. Based on the responses from the 250 questionnaires distributed and 208 responses, a safety course curriculum was suggested with a possible 30 course outlines that could support students at different stages in their development, and as such, it would be expected that students’ safety skills improve as they progress through their degree.

Building a Proactive Safety Culture in Tunnel Construction Industry - Sri Lanka

Significant safety challenges can arise at tunnelling works as they are conducted in semi-enclosed environments. This study aimed to develop a safety risk assessment framework for drill and blast tunnel construction in Sri Lanka. Tunnelling expert surveys in three sites were used for collecting the necessary data. Initially, a Risk Score Analysis was conducted to identify the critical hazardous events. They were identified as: direct spraying of concrete on eyes and skin, being exposed to noxious dust, and constant exposure to noxious noise. A Bow Tie Analysis was conducted to analyse each critical hazardous event, identifying their causes, preventive measures, recovery measures, and consequences. A probability-based Event Tree Analysis that shows all possible outcomes following the success or failure of protective barriers was also conducted. For example, according to the event tree analysis of ‘direct spraying of concrete on eyes and skin,' there is an overall probability of 19.1% such that significant consequences could be prevented. The research has justified the practicality of these risk analyses for drill and blast tunnelling sites. Also, recommendations are provided for the contractors and workers targeting continuous improvement of safety provisions at tunnelling sites.

Safety Culture among Transport Companies in Ethiopia: Are They Ready for Emerging Fleet Technologies?

The safety culture and safety climate of transport companies have a significant impact on fleet safety outcomes. Ample research shows that transport companies with a strong safety culture also show lower crash statistics. In spite of modern technologies that help with having a safer fleet, it is difficult to achieve a safer fleet without a proactive safety culture and climate. In Ethiopia, it is assumed that most transport companies have failed to create a distinguishable safety climate in their fleet safety administration and that their heavy vehicle drivers have a poor safety culture. These could be important factors contributing to a higher rate of road traffic crashes involving heavy vehicles. This study aims to assess the existing safety culture among a sample of transport companies in Ethiopia and identify suitable intervention methods to improve the safety culture. Moreover, the study sought to identify the readiness of the transport companies to apply modern technology in their fleets by examining their safety culture and safety climate. In total, 10 fleet managers and 174 heavy vehicle drivers participated in the fleet safety audit survey. A descriptive analysis and a detailed fleet safety audit score were calculated. Based on the scale scoring, ten companies score below best practices, one scores well below best practices, and only one company meets the criteria to be considered achieving best practices. The results from this study show that the safety culture and safety climate in most transport companies are quite limited. In addition, most transport companies implement similar safety measures, including inconsistent driver training and annual maintenance.

Surviving relatives as stakeholders for corporate social responsibility and as leaders for meaningful safety improvement. A case study from the Netherlands

Fatal accidents are a life changing event for surviving relatives. As secondary victims, their life is suddenly disrupted and becomes filled with mourning, sorrow, pain and uncertainty. A case study from the Netherlands shows that a range of organizations and institutions have a social responsibility to contribute to mitigating the suffering of surviving relatives. A responsibility which is up till now often neglected. From a corporate social responsibility point of view the alleviation and prevention of suffering of surviving relatives should be important for any organisation involved in the aftermath of fatal accidents. The case study shows that surviving relatives, as secondary victims, can contribute in a unique way to the initiation, implementation and realization of a successful corporate program to promote prevention and the development of a proactive safety culture. Finally, the case study shows that surviving relatives can contribute actively to the development of more proactive inspection strategies and new legislation. It is suggested that within safety science and practice more attention should be given to the agency and potential positive contributions of surviving relatives and survivors of serious accidents to prevention and safety promotion. By speaking from their heart and out of their dramatic personal experience, they can impact the behaviour of corporate leaders, policy makers as well as operational workers in a unique way. Simultaneously, such activities help them to develop new purpose and meaning in their disrupted lives.

A framework for enhancing construction safety through knowledge-based safety culture indicators

Many studies have indicated that positive safety culture in workplace environment could reduce occurrence of accidents. Yet, there is a lack of consensus on indicators pertaining to good practices, methods, and improvement strategies related to safety culture. Therefore, this study aims to identify the current state and development needs of the level of safety culture and suggests improvement by benchmarking through knowledge-based safety culture indicators. In this study, a qualitative research approach was adopted using open-ended interview questions to professionals from reputed construction organizations. The collected data was analyzed to summarize these interview responses highlighting the key indicators required to formulate a knowledge-based improvement framework for construction organizations. Results of the interview are analyzed and an improvement framework of overall safety culture is suggested. This framework proposes a different approach by focusing on the development needs of proactive safety culture pertaining to key knowledge-based indicators relevant for construction organizations. Further, this framework could be the basis to provide a holistic understanding of measuring safety culture to assess the level of safety culture in organizations.

Injury Patterns among Forestry Workers in Croatia

Timber harvesting, especially motor-manual felling, in Croatia, as in many other countries, is one of the most hazardous economic activities. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to analyse and compare the latest trends and risk factors related to the incidence of work-induced injuries in structural organization units of national forest enterprise. A combined approach of literature review and assembled secondary data was applied to gather data on workplace accidents over the years 2014–2020. Work-induced injuries data were drawn from the records of the national enterprise Croatian Forests Ltd. which manages state forests (76% of total forest area). A total of 1626 work-induced injuries were processed and entered into the database. Data analysis was conducted using statistical and descriptive methods. Research results have proven a significant difference in the injury rate over the years 2014–2020 in the Croatian forest enterprise. During the analysed period the highest number of workplace accidents (51.35% of all recorded workplace accidents) occurred during the forest harvesting phase, i.e., during motor-manual felling. Trends in the incidence of work-induced injuries in the observed period do not show any significant improvement. The key findings have pointed out that forest administrations which practice even-aged forest management have 25% or more injuries than forest administrations which practice selective forest management. Related to the average rate of change by forest administration, the largest annual increase or decrease of the selected safety indicators is recorded for smallest forest administrations. Related to total number of injuries, the smallest forest administrations have the least injuries and show statistically significant difference compared to large forest administrations. When comparing the number of injuries per 1000 employees, medium sized forest administrations have the highest value of indicator and show statistical significance. Discussion and conclusion of the paper emphasizes the need for systematic research in the field of ergonomy, safety and health of forest workers in Croatian forestry sector. Additionally, the development and inclusion of proactive safety culture is recognized as a mechanism that can further reduce work injuries and improve occupational safety which should have a significant role in the process of certification of forest management according to the FSC standard.

Trending analysis of historical conjunction data messages

The United States Air Force maintains the Catalog of Earth orbiting satellites, or SATCAT. In February of 2009, a collision between Cosmos 2251 and Iridium 33 occurred. This event not only generated thousands of pieces of debris, but also heightened international interest in preventing future orbital collisions. Future potential collisions, or conjunctions, are predicted and warned of by the 18th Space Control Squadron (18 SPCS), across the space community, using Conjunction Data Messages (CDMs). The research team requested, processed, analyzed, and trended the historical catalog of 23 million CDMs across spatial and temporal domains for aggregate risk assessment in each of the major Earth orbit classes.This effort is in the spirit of the Air Force Safety Center's (AFSEC's) vision, which is to achieve a proactive safety culture of hazard identification and risk management across the Air Force, to prevent mishaps. The type and depth of analysis presented here will increase in the future to better inform the hazards of the orbital environment and cultivate space mishap prevention.

Attending and Resident Physician Engagement of the Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System (RO-ILS)

RO-ILS is designed to improve quality and patient safety in radiation oncology by facilitating shared learning in a non-punitive environment. Higher rates of incident submissions indicate a strong safety culture and support by physicians, who can role model proactive safety culture for team members and trainees. Yet engagement of physicians stands to be improved. We hypothesize that resident versus attending status and select surveyed attitudes predicts RO-ILS utilization. Institutional submissions in RO-ILS between July 1, 2017 and July 1, 2018 were reviewed. In addition, a survey assessing RO-ILS usage, incident reporting to other team members, and attitudes towards submission, was sent to attending and resident physicians in the department. Univariate logistic regression was used to identify if any surveyed attitude’s continuous Likert score predicted direct submission, and if resident versus attending status predicted 1) direct submission, 2) asking another team member to submit incidents (referred submission), or 3) general submission (direct or referred). The multiple testing for attitudes was corrected by Bonferroni method. The association between attitude as a binary categorical variable and direct/general submission was also assessed by chi-squared test. Physicians who self-identified only accounted for 10.7% of all RO-ILS submissions (18/168 total submissions; 5 from residents, 13 from attendings), and these submissions originated from 6 unique physicians (4 attendings, 2 residents) in a department with 13 attendings and 11 residents. The survey was sent to current 12 attendings and 12 residents with a response rate of 83.3% (20/24 physicians); 45% (9/20 respondents) were attendings, 45% (9/20 respondents) reported having ever directly submitted an incident, and 45% (9/20 respondents) reported having ever asked another team member to submit an incident. Of those who referred submissions, 66.7% (6/9 respondents) referred to a therapist or nurse. Avoiding punitive action (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.14-0.88, p=0.05) and reluctance to submit an incident related to another member of the team (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.23-0.95, p=0.05) exhibited tendencies for association with submission (Bonferroni threshold p=0.01). Resident status was a borderline significant predictor of less likely to refer submission (OR 0.11, 95% CI 0.01-0.77, p=0.04), and less likely general submission (OR 0.11, 95% CI 0.01-0.73, p=0.03). Attendings are more likely than residents to utilize RO-ILS and ask another team member to submit incidents. The association of RO-ILS use with attitudes of avoiding punitive action and of reluctance to submit incidents related to another team member requires a greater sample size for confirmation.

Stardust Petroleum Sendirian Berhad: how to inculcate the pro-active safety culture?

Learning outcomes The learning objectives of using this case are as follows: to understand the concepts of organizational structure, organizational culture and organizational change; to expose students to the problems that may encounter organization when it intends to bring changes in culture; to stimulate students’ understanding of the necessity to build positive organizational culture; to advance students’ knowledge about oil and gas industry; to develop students’ understanding of using Levin’s model of cultural change; and to illustrate the challenges that an organization might face while changing its existing culture. Case overview/synopsis This case teaches about the importance of boosting positive organization culture to accept organizational change. Stardust was established in 2013 as Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd’s subsidiary. The company was established to manage small and marginal field in Malaysia which was under the oil and gas field that had smaller reservoir and lasted for four to five years. On 2014, Stardust was given an opportunity to take over one of the fields to manage. However, during the process of handing over the facility and field from the parent to the new company, the tanker caught fire in one of its pump in the pump room. The fire resulted substantial damage to the pump room; two out of four pumps were totally damaged. It delayed the oil production for more than a month. Total estimated damage due to the fire incurred RM19m losses. Direct cost included replacing two new 400 kW pumps, repairing the damaged pump room with new manifolds and painting, and cost of shutdown production for 40 days. Investigation was initiated to identify the causes of the fire which revealed that human error, mostly peoples’ negligence was one of the major reasons along with location, equipment and procedure. The Health, Safety and Environment department of the company was given the task to create ‘Living Safety’ culture among the crew. Being the head of this department, Tarmizi found it very challenging to inculcate the culture ‘Action Today, Perfect Day Tomorrow’ and was thinking how to instill this culture with zero failure by the end of the calendar year which is December 2016. The time was running fast as the parent company emphasized to handle the situation urgently and to ensure that the similar incident will not happen in the future. If it re-occurs, it will jeopardize the trustworthiness of Stardust with the other parties involved and also the parent company might not allow the company to operate other facilities, which will put the company at stake to remain competitive in the oil and gas business. Complexity academic level This case is suitable to use in advanced undergraduate level, MBA and MSc to teach organizational behavior and organizational theory courses. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 7: Management Science.

Using bowtie methodology to support laboratory hazard identification, risk management, and incident analysis

Hazard prevention and control systems for specific laboratory processes must be readily shared between lab workers, their colleagues, and lab supervisors. In order for these control systems to be effective in a transferable and sustainable way, effective risk management communication tools must be present. These tools need to be adaptable and sustainable as research processes change in response to evolving scientific needs in discovery based laboratories. In this manuscript, the application of a risk management tool developed in the oil and gas industry known as a “bowtie diagram” is assessed for application in the laboratory setting. The challenges of identifying laboratory hazards and managing associated risks as well as early experiences in adapting bowtie diagrams to the laboratory setting are described. Background information about the bowtie approach is provided and the technique illustrated using an academic laboratory research scenario. We also outline the role bowtie diagrams could play in a proactive safety culture program by facilitating hazard communication and maintaining hazard awareness across a wide spectrum of stakeholders.

Proactive occupational safety and health management: Promoting good health and good business

This research assessed the impact of organisational approaches to occupational safety and health (OSH) management on organisational performance, safety climate, employee attitudes, health and well-being. Interviews with health and safety personnel, company directors and worker representatives were used to categorise the organisations according to their approaches to OSH management, using the Continuous Improvement Cycle model (Budworth and Khan, 2003). A cross-sectional survey of 2067 employees from these organisations examined the impact of company size, industrial sector and approach to OSH management on indicators of organisational performance and employee outcomes. A structured questionnaire assessed demographic characteristics, organisation and job tenure, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, intention to quit and job motivation, safety climate, self-reported absence, performance and work-related ill-health. Organisations were also asked to provide data on profit, performance, accidents and absence indices. Organisations adopting a proactive approach to OSH management reported higher profit margins and lower accident rates, however these differences were not statistically significant. Organisations classified as ‘very good’ were found to show significantly more positive safety climate perceptions across eight out of the nine safety climate dimensions. Employees in proactive organisations were significantly more committed to their organisations and showed greater job satisfaction than employees in organisations categorised as ‘yet to be fully engaged/complier’. Positive safety climate perceptions and organisational attitudes were associated with better self-reported physical and mental health. The findings add to the validation of the CIC model as an assessment and learning tool which may support the transition of organisations from reactive to proactive safety culture.

Safety Culture and Safety-Relevant Behavior in Air Traffic Management

Since 2010, air navigation service providers have been mandated to implement a positive and proactive safety culture based on shared beliefs, assumptions, and values regarding safety. This mandate raised the need to develop and validate a concept and tools to assess the level of safety culture in organizations. An initial set of 40 safety culture questions based on eight themes underwent psychometric validation. Principal component analysis was applied to data from 282 air traffic management staff, producing a five-factor model of informed culture, reporting and learning culture, just culture, and flexible culture, as well as management’s safety attitudes. This five-factor solution was validated across two different occupational groups and assessment dates (construct validity). Criterion validity was partly achieved by predicting safety-relevant behavior on the job through three out of five safety culture scores. Results indicated a nonlinear relationship with safety culture scales. Overall the proposed concept proved reliable and valid with respect to safety culture development, providing a robust foundation for managers, safety experts, and operational and safety researchers to measure and further improve the level of safety culture within the air traffic management context.

Patient Safety Action Group Promotes Proactive Safety Culture

Patient falls in hospitals are dangerous and difficult to avoid. Two years ago, Hartford Hospital in Connecticut made it a goal to reduce its patient fall rate, and created a multidisciplinary patient safety action group to tackle this and other complicated safety problems head-on. Its biomedical engineering department was a key part of this team, and brought its equipment and engineering expertise to bear on these challenges. By maintaining a daily focus on proactively identifying and resolving problems, the group has dramatically reduced the hospital’s fall rate and, in the process, created a proactive safety culture throughout the hospital.

Patientensicherheit und Fehler in der Medizin

"Patient safety" and "errors in medicine" are issues gaining more and more prominence in the eyes of the public. According to newer studies, errors in medicine are among the ten major causes of death in association with the whole area of health care. A new era has begun incorporating attention to a "systems" approach to deal with errors and their causes in the health system. In other high-risk domains with a high demand for safety (such as the nuclear power industry and aviation) many strategies to enhance safety have been established. It is time to study these strategies, to adapt them if necessary and apply them to the field of medicine. These strategies include: to teach people how errors evolve in complex working domains and how types of errors are classified; the introduction of critical incident reporting systems that are free of negative consequences for the reporters; the promotion of continuous medical education; and the development of generic problem-solving skills incorporating the extensive use of realistic simulators wherever possible. Interestingly, the field of anesthesiology--within which realistic simulators were developed--is referred to as a model for the new patient safety movement. Despite this proud track record in recent times though, there is still much to be done even in the field of anesthesiology. Overall though, the most important strategy towards a long-term improvement in patient safety will be a change of "culture" throughout the entire health care system. The "culture of blame" focused on individuals should be replaced by a "safety culture", that sees errors and critical incidents as a problem of the whole organization. The acceptance of human fallability and an open-minded non-punitive analysis of errors in the sense of a "preventive and proactive safety culture" should lead to solutions at the systemic level. This change in culture can only be achieved with a strong commitment from the highest levels of an organization. Patient safety must have the highest priority in the goals of the institution: "Primum nihil nocere"--"First, do not harm".