Workplace Safety Climate Research Articles

Predictors of employee well-being: A global measurements using reflective-formative model

BackgroundEmployee well-being (EW) is an integral part of occupational safety & health. Therefore, measuring EW is very important for holistically evaluating well-being instruments and measurement models. This research aimed to identify and confirm dimensions that significantly contribute to EW and also to examine the reliability and validity of the formative model of EW. MethodsThe survey consisted of 89 items from a well-being questionnaire administered to 426 employees in the coal mining industry, covering five domains. Measurements were analyzed using partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4.1.1. The measurement and analysis were conducted in two stages, the first of which used a reflective model. Subsequently, the results of the first stage were used in the second stage as a formative model to measure EW globally. Result and conclusionHome, Community, and Society (HCS), Health Status (HS), Workplace Environment and Experience (WEE), Workplace Policies and Culture (WPC), as well as Workplace Environment and Safety Climate (WPE) domain significantly contributed to EW, as identified through first-order reflective and second-order formative models. ContributionThis research developed a measurement model for EW with two orders: first-order reflective and second-order formative. It also offered practical insights for organizations and companies to measure and understand EW, providing a basis for implementing effective interventions.

The Link between Workplace Safety Climate and Job Performance among Nursing Staff: A Correlational Study

Background: Workplace safety climate and job performance are closely related. A positive safety climate is associated with better job performance, particularly in health care settings. Objectives: The study aims to investigate the relationship of workplace safety climate and job performance among nursing staff. Methodology: Correlation study design research used in the present study among 250 nurses choosing from Imam Hussein Hospital in Karbala Governorate which is located south of Iraq, about 105 km2 away from the capital, Baghdad. The study has been carried out during the period 17th September 2023 to 16th January 2024. Using questionnaire prepared and modified by the researcher. Results: The majority of nursing staff are females between the ages of 20 and 29, married, with diploma qualification and their monthly income is barely enough to cover their expenses. They reside in urban areas. Professionally, the majority of them had experience ranging from 1 to 5 years, and most of them work in surgical departments for 6-8 hours a day and do not work overtime. Health-wise, most of nurse’s sleep for 5-7 hours daily and do not suffer from any chronic diseases. There is significant relationship between workplace safety climate and job performance among nursing staff. Conclusion: The significant relationship between the two factors and emphasizing the importance of improving safety climates for enhanced job performance and better health outcomes in healthcare settings

Association between the safety climate and occupational injury in the Korean working population: a cross-sectional study.

Preventing occupational injuries remains a significant challenge in Korea. A positive safety climate can contribute to reducing workplace injuries. However, the impact of safety climate on preventing occupational injuries among the Korean workforce has not been adequately explored. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between the perceived safety climate and occupational injuries within the Korean working population. This study used baseline data from the Korean Work, Sleep, and Health Study (KWSH). The safety climate was measured using the brief version of the Nordic Safety Climate Questionnaire. Occupational injury was determined by whether injuries or accidents had occurred at workplaces in the past year. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between the safety climate and occupational injury. Participants who reported an unfavorable workplace safety climate were more likely to experience occupational injuries. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for occupational injuries in an unfavorable safety climate was 2.20 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38-3.51) compared to a favorable safety climate. Specifically, factors such as "not encouraging employees to follow safety rules when on a tight schedule" (OR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.25-3.24) and "not helping each other work safely" (OR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.17-3.25) were significantly associated with occupational injuries. An unfavorable safety climate was associated with increased occupational injuries among Korean workers. Improving the safety climate in the workplace may reduce occupational injuries in Korea.

Musculoskeletal pain among medical residents: role of workplace safety climate and sexual harassment

BackgroundWorkplace factors are important predictors of occurrence of musculoskeletal pain among different occupational populations. In healthcare, a psychologically unsafe work environment can negatively affect the emotional, physical and psychological well-being of physicians. This study aimed to examine the relationship between workplace violence, sexual harassment and musculoskeletal pain among Egyptian physicians in their years of residency.MethodsWe distributed an online self-administered questionnaire to 101 residents working in various healthcare sectors in Egypt. It included sections on demographic data, working conditions, widespread pain index (WPI), pain interference short-form, workplace violence and harassment questionnaire, psychosocial safety climate questionnaire (PSC) and sexual harassment climate questionnaire.ResultsAll residents had at least one painful site on the WPI (range 1–11). The mean WPI was 3.5 ± 2.4, and 39.6% satisfied the criteria of having widespread pain by having at least 4 pain sites. Widespread pain index showed a weak statistically significant negative correlation with workplace PSC score (rho = − 0.272, p = 0.006), and a statistically significant weak positive correlation with the calculated total abuse index (rho = 0.305, p = 0.002). Workplace violence and abuse, as measured by a calculated abuse index was the only significant predictors of widespread pain among residents.ConclusionWPV was found to be a predictor of musculoskeletal pain among medical residents. Healthcare organizations need to address WPV by employing preventive strategies to minimize its hazardous effects and ensure a safe working environment for physicians.

Изучение опыта работы с химиопрепаратами специалистов сестринского дела в онкологических клиниках Казахстана

The purpose of the study to describe the nursing practices related to the administration of chemotherapy and aims to assess the level of competence among nursing professionals, identify challenges encountered while working with chemotherapy, and evaluate the safety conditions in their workplace. Methods. This study presents a cross-sectional design using a quantitative method. The participants in this study are nursing specialists actively engaged in handling chemotherapy drugs in three prominent clinics in the Republic of Kazakhstan, which offer medical care to patients with oncohematological and oncological conditions affecting the respiratory, urinary, and digestive systems. A total of 70 completed questionnaires were collected from nursing professionals working in these clinics. The data collected was statistically analyzed using STATA 14 statistical software. The analysis focused on assessing educational qualifications, workload, workplace safety climate, and the complexity of nursing practices for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Results. The majority of participants are relatively young professionals with limited experience in working with chemotherapy drugs and no specialized training in this field. Overall, participants displayed a reasonable understanding of breeding conditions, the effects of chemotherapy drugs, the use of PPE and the implementation of preventive measures when handling them. However, there was a lack of awareness regarding the proper transportation of chemotherapy drugs and the requisite protocols for the disposal of medical and biological waste generated by patients receiving chemotherapy. The study revealed that clinics where participants were interviewed offered mentoring and peer support programs. According to participants, the primary challenges in working with chemotherapy revolved around caring for patients experiencing chemotherapy-related side effects, mainly due to the high workload and the inherent toxicity of chemotherapy. Nevertheless, most participants indicated that workplace safety conditions were maintained at a high level. Conclusion. This study provides valuable insights into the practices of nursing specialists involved in administering chemotherapy in multiple oncology clinics within the Republic of Kazakhstan. It sheds light on the experiences of these professionals and offers a comprehensive understanding of the existing conditions and challenges faced when delivering chemotherapy to patients.

Assessing a safety climate tool adapted to address respiratory illnesses in Canadian hospitals.

Studies have shown an association between workplace safety climate scores and patient outcomes. This study aimed to investigate (1) performance of the hospital safety climate scale that was adapted to assess acute respiratory illness safety climate, (2) factors associated with safety climate scores, and (3) whether the safety scores were associated with following recommended droplet and contact precautions. A survey of Canadian healthcare personnel participating in a cohort study of influenza during the 2010/2011-2013/2014 winter seasons. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used for analyses. Of the 1359 participants eligible for inclusion, 88% were female and 52% were nurses. The adapted items loaded to the same factors as the original scale. Personnel working on higher risk wards, nurses, and younger staff rated their hospital's safety climate lower than other staff. Following guidelines for droplet and contact precautions was positively associated with ratings of management support and absence of job hindrances. The adapted tool can be used to assess hospital safety climates regarding respiratory pathogens. Management support and the absence of job hindrances are associated with hospital staff's propensity and ability to follow precautions against the transmission of respiratory illnesses.

Application of a comprehensive framework to investigate worker well-being among head start staff

The purpose of this study was to investigate sociodemographic factors associated with five domains of worker well-being as well as overall well-being based on a multilevel framework among a large sample of Head Start staff. The National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety’s Worker Well-Being Questionnaire (WellBQ) was completed by 332 Head Start staff in Colorado. We ran linear regression models to investigate associations between demographics, each domain, and overall well-being score. The strongest correlations were between work evaluation and experience, and workplace policies and culture (r = .72, p < .01), between work policies and culture, and workplace physical environment and safety climate (r = .64, p < .01), and between work evaluation and experience, and workplace physical environment and safety climate (r = .58, p < .01). Non-White individuals reported higher satisfaction related to the environment and safety climate domain (p < .05) and the home, community, and society domain (p < .01) compared to White individuals. Support staff reported higher satisfaction related to the work evaluation and experience domain and workplace policies and culture domain compared to classroom staff (both p < .05). Staff in supervisor roles reported statistically significantly poorer health status compared to classroom staff (p < .05). These findings inform future application of the WellBQ to the ECE workforce including the development of multilevel well-being promotion interventions.

Exploring U.S. Food System Workers' Intentions to Work While Ill during the Early COVID-19 Pandemic: A National Survey.

With "stay at home" orders in effect during early COVID-19, many United States (U.S.) food system workers attended in-person work to maintain national food supply chain operations. Anecdotally, many encountered barriers to staying home despite symptomatic COVID-19 illness. We conducted a national, cross-sectional, online survey between 31 July and 2 October 2020 among 2535 respondents. Using multivariable regression and free-text analyses, we investigated factors associated with workers' intentions to attend work while ill (i.e., presenteeism intentions) during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, 8.8% of respondents intended to attend work with COVID-19 disease symptoms. Almost half (41.1%) reported low or very low household food security. Workers reporting a higher workplace safety climate score were half as likely to report presenteeism intentions (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37, 0.75) relative to those reporting lower scores. Workers reporting low (aOR 2.06, 95% CI 1.35, 3.13) or very low (aOR 2.31, 95% CI 1.50, 3.13) household food security levels had twice the odds of reporting presenteeism intentions relative to those reporting high/marginal food security. Workplace culture and safety climate could enable employees to feel like they can take leave when sick during a pandemic, which is critical to maintaining individual and workplace health. We stress the need for strategies which address vulnerabilities and empower food workers to make health-protective decisions.

Exploration of COVID-19 Pandemic Prevention Behaviors among Healthcare Workers.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the pandemic has become an important topic of global public health. To reduce the rapid spread of the pandemic, compliance with preventive behaviors has become one of the important guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO). Healthcare workers stand on the frontline for pandemic prevention, and preventive behaviors are essential measures to protect their health and safety. The purpose of this study was to propose an integrative model that explained and predicted COVID-19 preventive behaviors among healthcare workers. The study integrated workplace safety climate and the health belief model (HBM) to verify the impact of workplace safety climate and health belief factors on the safety attitude, safety compliance, and safety satisfaction of healthcare workers performing COVID-19 pandemic prevention behaviors. A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to August 2021 with a self-administered online questionnaire. The sample of the study was drawn from healthcare workers of a famous medical institution in Taipei City as research subjects. After collecting 273 valid questionnaires and verifying them through the analysis of structural equation modeling (SEM), the findings revealed that workplace safety climate had an impact on health belief factors, and then health belief factors had impacts on safety attitudes. In addition, safety attitude affected safety compliance, while safety compliance further affected safety satisfaction. The study showed that workplace safety climate can strengthen healthcare workers' health beliefs and further affect their safety attitudes, safety compliance, and safety satisfaction. The study attempted to propose a model of healthcare workers' pandemic prevention behaviors as a reference for medical facility administrators in real practice.

How does gender and work location impact perceived worker stress during COVID-19? Findings from King County, WA

Using an online survey, we explored workplace determinants of perceived stress during COVID-19 in n = 2910 county government workers, and differences in perceived stress by gender and work arrangement (work from home v. do not work from home). We explored relationships with descriptive statistics and linear regression. Access to health and safety resources, increased workplace safety climate, support for work-life balance, and increased access to sick leave were related to lower stress; dependent care stress and female gender were related to higher stress. Among those working from home, higher stress related to an increase in workload and erosion of work/life boundaries. Findings show how the workplace impacts stress, differential determinants by gender/work arrangement, and areas to intervene to improve employee health and well-being.

The relationship between safety climate and nurses' safe handling of chemotherapy: A partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis.

Safety climate plays a critical role in nurses' safety behaviors. However, few are aware of the safety climate sub-dimensions associated with safety behavior. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between nurses' perception of the workplace safety climate and their safety behavior regarding the handling of chemotherapy upon intravenous administration. This study included a cross-sectional survey of nurses recruited by purposive sampling at three hospitals in Taiwan. A total of 484 self-administered questionnaires were returned. Each participant had to complete the questionnaire that was developed by the authors, including the Taiwanese Safety Climate Instrument and Chemotherapy Safety Precautions Questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis and Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to verify the psychometric properties. We used the samples (N=247) for confirmatory factor analysis to verify the model using partial least squares structural equation modeling. We found that nurses' perceptions of workplace safety climate can explain and predict their safety behavior regarding administration chemotherapy, particularly the dimension of "perception of interaction with colleagues," "experience of clinical jobs hindering the use of personal protective equipment," "perception of comfort using personal protective equipment," and "easy usage of personal protective equipment." The study further revealed that the dimensions of the Taiwanese Safety Climate Instrument were moderate predictors of the Chemotherapy Safety Precautions. Nurses have a positive perception of the workplace safety climate and frequently implement behaviors regarding the safe handling of chemotherapy. Organizational managers should enable nurses to share their perceptions of workplace safety with their colleagues and purchase easy-to-use and comfortable personal protective equipment.

Safety climate in the Ghanaian printing industry.

The concept of safety climate has gained attention from safety experts as one of the most efficient and effective ways to deal with occupational accidents and injuries across industries. This paper explores the safety climate and the effect of employees' demographic variables on the safety climate perception in the printing industry. We adopted the Safety Climate Scale (SCS) developed by Ghahramani and Khalkhali to measure the safety climate in the print manufacturing industry of Ghana. Our findings, based on all the dimensions in the scale, revealed an unsafe safety climate. Also, there was a correlation between demographic factors (age, gender, experience, and education) and perception of workplace safety climate. The major contribution of this paper is to extend empirical research that provides a greater understanding of the health and safety environment within the printing industry of Ghana and the personal and collective attitudes and patterns of behaviour that determine the commitment to organisations' health and safety practices. These findings are important for managers in the printing industry because they provide evidence about the current safety climate so that management can take the action to reduce risks and improve performance. To improve the safety climate, we recommend that management and other stakeholders within the printing industry must commit and communicate effectively, embrace safety practices and procedures, and be more accountable and responsible to minimise the effects of a poor safety climate.

In Search of Differences in the Perception of Safety Climate by Employees of an International Manufacturing Company.

The implementation of effective workforce safety programmes ought to be linked to an understanding of the specificity of the work in the organisation concerned, taking into consideration the assessment of the level of safety expressed by the professional group representing it at the executive level. The main purpose of the study presented in the paper, which is part of a broader project of researching safety culture in the organisation, is a diagnosis of the safety climate in the Polish branch of an international manufacturing company. The following research question was formulated: Is the examined international manufacturing company a homogeneous organisation from the point of view of assessing its safety culture? The research was exploratory. In total, 203 respondents, which amounts to 35% of the employees, participated in the study. The selection of the sample was representative-in proportion to the number of employees in individual departments and their positions in the examined organisation. The presented paper includes an analysis of the results obtained on the basis of the abbreviated version of the Safety Climate Questionnaire, a self-developed tool to assess ten separate dimensions of safety climate. The results of a single-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) along with post hoc tests prove that there is a statistically significant difference between the respondents representing different positions in the organisation and different areas of employment. The position held in the company significantly differentiates the employees in a statistically significant way-in eight out of eleven diagnostic areas, including the Summary Safety Climate Indicator (SSCI). In the case of department, statistically significant differences were found in seven out of eleven diagnostic areas. Education proved to be the factor that differentiates the respondents the least in terms of the assessment of workplace safety climate. Statistically significant differences occurred only in three out of eleven diagnostic areas. The observed differences in the assessment of the dimensions of workplace safety climate point to the need for the promotion of more diversified and individualised measures, taking into account the specificity of work and the nature of hazards in a given position, and the creation of practical safety programmes not only in the procedural and technical dimensions but also in social and psychological ones.

Assessment of workplace safety climate among power sector employees: A comparative study of cross-culture employer in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s power sector has undergone extensive reforms to improve its technical and monetary performance over the last two decades. However, despite its fast-growing and hazardous nature, safety research remains limited in this context. This study aims to address this gap by assessing the level of safety climate in the power sector and comparing the safety climate in plants operated by multinational companies (MNCs) and local companies (LCs).To this end, five power plants operating in the southern part of the Punjab region (in Pakistan) were included in this study. The Nordic Occupational Safety Climate Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50), an analytical tool comprising of 50 items across seven dimensions, was used to determine the level of safety climate. An independent T-Test was then applied to compare the means in two different setups to draw a conclusion about overall safety climate differences. In MNCs, overall management/leadership perception improved; however, workers in both setups responded similarly in many cases. The lowest observed score in both setups was related to worker’s prioritization of safety and risk non-acceptance. The study highlights the importance of a company’s policies, procedures, and leadership commitments in creating a stronger safety climate by instilling trust in workers. The study further demonstrates that cross-cultural and strong policies devised by multinational companies help to improve the overall safety climate andconcludes that promoting an efficient and positive safety climate in the power sector is a long journey and that can only be achieved if all workers and leaders take on an active role.

Analyzing Relationship between Safety Climate and Safety Leadership in a Phosphoric Acid Industry

Introduction: Safety-based leadership style has a positive relationship with the workplace safety climate in a company. Transactional leadership has a direct positive relationship with work safety participation and has an indirect relationship with work safety climate. In a phosphoric acid industry especially in 2019, the achievement of sulfuric acid production decreased from 2019 to 2020. The gap range was caused by leadership factors. This study has an objective to analyze the overview of safety climate based on safety leadership in the phosphoric acid industry. Methods: This research used a cross-sectional quantitative survey. The respondents comprised of 44 personnel. The independent factors in this investigation were the dimensions of leadership style and the dependent variable in this study wasthe condition of the work safety climate in each work group in the creation unit. The analysis used NOSACQ-50 radar plot analysis. Results: Of all perceptions of consideration leadership style, eitherin the high, very high, or enough categories, the dimension of work safety justice had the lowest score. The highest dimension of work safety climate was in the dimension of management safety priority and ability, especially in the perception of a high and very high initiating structure leadership style. Conclusion: A very high perception of the consideration leadership style had a work safety climate that had a higher score when compared to the high and sufficient perception. The highest dimension of work safety climate was in the dimensions of management safety priority and ability, especially in the perception of a high and very high initiating structure leadership style.

A WHO Guided Journey of Hand Hygiene (HH) from Basic to Advance Level in Lower Middle-Income Country (LMIC)

<h3>Background</h3> According to WHO; Hand hygiene is a primary measure to reduce hospital acquired infections. It is a simple act but the lack of compliances among health care workers. World Health Organization (WHO) offers a Hand hygiene Self-assessment framework to identify area of improvements and develop action plan and strategies accordingly. Being a low/middle income country initial scoring came to be 195 points i.e., Basic level thus we aim to achieve advance level i. e. > 375. <h3>Methods</h3> To work on project, Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) quality improvement cycle was initiated, process and outcome indicators were measured to analyze the cause and effects/fish bone diagram was used. WHO's hand hygiene self-assessment framework/tool was utilized which has five components system change, training/ education, evaluation/ feedback, reminders in workplace & institution's safety climate for Hand Hygiene. Reassessments were done periodically to document the progress over time in each component and overall to track their progress in hand hygiene resources, promotion activities, plan their actions. <h3>Results</h3> After implementation of multiple strategies in each section of WHO's self-assessment framework we were able to achieve our set goal and our overall score increased from basic i.e., 195 to advance i.e., 395. In addition to that our category wise score also increased i.e., in system change from 60 to 85, in training/ education from 35 to 100, in evaluation/ feedback from 52.5 to 100, reminders in workplace from 17.5 to 45 & Institution's Safety Climate from 30 to 65. <h3>Conclusions</h3> WHO's hand hygiene self-assessment framework should be utilized by all the hospitals in lower- and middle-income country as a guide to improve their hand hygiene levels. It provides an opportunity to reflect on existing resources and helps to focus on future and challenges. It acts as a diagnostic tool, identifying key issues requiring attention and improvement.

Development of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Worker Well-Being Questionnaire.

This article describes development of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Worker Well-Being Questionnaire (WellBQ). The NIOSH WellBQ was developed through literature reviews and expert panel recommendations. We drew from a representative sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized, US working population to pilot the questionnaire. Psychometric analyses were performed on data from 975 respondents to finalize items and optimize the NIOSH WellBQ's psychometric properties. The final questionnaire consists of 16 scales, 5 indices, and 31 single items across 5 domains: (1) work evaluation and experience; (2) workplace policies and culture; (3) workplace physical environment and safety climate; (4) health status; and (5) home, community, and society (experiences and activities outside of work). The instrument demonstrated adequate reliability and validity. The NIOSH WellBQ is a reliable and valid instrument that comprehensively measures worker well-being.

The effect of safety knowledge and workplace safety climate on safety performance with safety behavior as a mediator

This research examines the effect of safety knowledge and Workplace Safety Climate on safety performance mediated by worker safety behavior in the defense product manufacturing industry in Indonesia using PT Pindad as a research site. Occupational health and safety (K3) are one of the most important aspects of a company's production operations. No matter how good the quality or productivity of a company, it will be meaningless if there are problems regarding the value of K3 in its operations so that the K3 aspect cannot be ruled out. Safety knowledge of workers and creating a safety climate are able to achieve good safety performance. This study also measures the mediating effect of safety behavior in the causal relationship between safety knowledge and safety climate on safety performance. Questionnaires were distributed to 160 permanent employees. Then, Partial Least Squares are used to test the proposed hypothesis. The results showed that the safety knowledge variable was significantly related to the safety performance variable, with a count of 2.097, and the safety climate variable was significantly related to the safety performance variable, with an account of 2.243. The safety behavior variable mediates the effect of the safety knowledge variable on the safety performance variable, with a count of 2,607, and the safety behavior variable mediates the effect of the safety climate variable on the safety performance variable, with an account value of 2.094.

How Well Are Hand Hygiene Practices and Promotion Implemented in Sierra Leone? A Cross-Sectional Study in 13 Public Hospitals.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) result in millions of avoidable deaths or prolonged lengths of stay in hospitals and cause huge economic loss to health systems and communities. Primarily, HAIs spread through the hands of healthcare workers, so improving hand hygiene can reduce their spread. We evaluated hand hygiene practices and promotion across 13 public health hospitals (six secondary and seven tertiary hospitals) in the Western Area of Sierra Leone in a cross-sectional study using the WHO hand hygiene self-Assessment framework in May 2021. The mean score for all hospitals was 273 ± 46, indicating an intermediate level of hand hygiene. Nine hospitals achieved an intermediate level and four a basic level. More secondary hospitals 5 (83%) were at the intermediate level, compared to tertiary hospitals 4 (57%). Tertiary hospitals were poorly rated in the reminders in workplace and institutional safety climate domains but excelled in training and education. Lack of budgets to support hand hygiene implementation is a priority gap underlying this poor performance. These gaps hinder hand hygiene practice and promotion, contributing to the continued spread of HAIs. Enhancing the distribution of hand hygiene resources and encouraging an embedded culture of hand hygiene practice in hospitals will reduce HAIs.

Sickness Presenteeism in Prison Officers: Risk Factors and Implications for Wellbeing and Productivity.

Sickness presenteeism involves employees continuing to work while unwell. As presenteeism is influenced by contextual and individual difference factors, it is important to assess its prevalence and implications for wellbeing and productivity in different occupational groups. This study examines these issues in a sample of prison officers working in UK institutions. Data were obtained from a survey of 1956 prison officers. Measures assessed the prevalence of and reasons for presenteeism and the perceived impact on job performance, along with mental health and perceptions of workplace safety climate. More than nine respondents out of ten (92%) reported working while unwell at least sometimes, with 43% reporting that they always did so. Presenteeism frequency was significantly related to mental health symptoms, impaired job performance and a poorer workplace safety climate. The reasons provided for presenteeism explained 31% of the variance in self-reported mental health, 34% in job performance and 17% in workplace safety climate, but the pattern of predictors varied according to the outcome. The findings can be used to inform interventions at the organisational and individual levels to encourage a ‘healthier’ approach to sickness absence, with likely benefits for staff wellbeing, job performance and workplace safety climate.