Developing a Brief Version of a Work Safety Climate Measure for Practical Use in Organisations

Abstract

Safety climate, the shared perceptions of policies, practices and procedures for the protection of worker psychological health and safety within an organisation, is recognised as a leading indicator of safety incidents in workplaces. As such, an assessment of work safety climate can be used to identify safety issues and implement strategies to prevent such incidents. However, the ambiguity of the concept has meant that confusion remains over the definition and measurement of safety climate. The Nordic Safety Climate Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50) has previously been recognised as being useful for identifying issues with safety climate and subsequently implementing strategies for improved safety outcomes. A key issue with this questionnaire is its length; the 50 items can be too long for organisations to utilise. Briefer safety climate measures are needed for practical use if they are to provide a means of monitoring the safety climate on a regular basis. This review aims to outline safety climate, differentiating it from safety culture and identifying factors affecting safety climate and its measurement, including a discussion of brief safety climate measures and their benefits.