The mediator role of safety motivation and knowledge between safety culture and safety performance: The results of a sociotechnical and macroergonomics approach

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kalteh, Haji Omid^a | Salesi, Mahmood^b | Mokarami, Hamidreza^{c; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Faculty of Public Health, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran | [b] Chemical Injuries Research Center, Systems Biology and Poisonings Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran | [c] Department of Ergonomics, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Hamidreza Mokarami, Department of Ergonomics, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. PO Box 71645-111, Shiraz, Iran. hamidreza.mokarami@yahoo.com.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Nowadays, although the effect of positive safety culture on improving safety performance has been confirmed, the mechanisms of this effect are somewhat ambiguous. OBJECTIVES:This study aimed to investigate the direct and indirect effects of safety culture on safety performance based on a sociotechnical and macroergonomics approach. METHODS:The participants consisted of 276 workers, supervisors, and managers in an oil and gas refinery complex. The data collection conducted using questionnaires including safety culture in accordance with the organization’s sociotechnical characteristics with 12 dimensions (effectiveness of safety management, management’s attitude towards safety, training, awareness and safety policy, peer support, work schedule, job demands, confrontation of tasks and safety, behavioural features and commitment to safety, work equipment and tools, personal protective equipment, workplace hazards, and external environmental factors), safety motivation and safety knowledge as mediators between safety culture and safety performance, and safety compliance and safety participation as the components of safety performance. RESULTS:The examination of paths in three structural models indicated that in the presence of the direct effect, the indirect paths were not approved due to the lack of confirmation of safety motivation ⟶ safety performance and safety knowledge ⟶ safety performance. In the model without the direct effect, indirect paths were confirmed; however, a low amount of safety performance variance was explained by safety culture. CONCLUSIONS:The safety culture tool explained the highest value of variance for the direct path due to the use of industry-related factors.

Keywords: Organizational safety, safety culture, safety compliance, safety participation, work system model

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-205085

Journal: Work, vol. 72, no. 2, pp. 707-717, 2022