Title
Why improving the safety climate doesn't always improve the safety performance
Author
Groeneweg, J.
Hudson, P.T.W.
Vandevis, T.
Lancioni, G.E.
TNO Kwaliteit van Leven
Publication year
2010
Abstract
This paper will discuss the results of a study outside the petrochemical industry (Vandevis (2008), but the results may have a profound effect on the way organizations try to influence their safety climate by setting so called SMART goals. It was conducted within the electrical high voltage contracting industry in Ontario, Canada and the objective was to investigate the relation between goal setting as a way to influence the safety climate and several safety related parameters and injury experiences. A quantitative survey based on Zohar's (2000) Safety Climate Scales was conducted with 564 surveys returned from 26 companies. Safety climate was not found to be correlated to self-reports of injury nor to lost-time or no-lost-time injury statistics. Safety climate was strongly and positively correlated with organizations setting at least partly SMART safety goals and in particular very strongly correlated when setting a goal of zero injuries and moderately and inversely correlated to self-reports of injury. People feel safer and report less accidents with or without injuries, but the actual performance using objective statistics has not improved. Setting such SMART safety goals as a way to improve the safety climate may lure both the management and employees of an organization into a false sense of achievement: the perceived level of safety goes up, however this change in perception is not matched with an actual improvement in safety performance. This study shows that management needs to do more than just setting SMART targets; if changes in the climate are seen as a "goal" rather than a "means" the safety performance will not improve. Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Subject
Organisation
SHB - Safe & Healthy Business
BSS - Behavioural and Societal Sciences
Work and Employment
Workplace
Healthy Living
Veilig en Gezond Werken
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e27e0c0b-1269-4327-a2f0-70adb239e3b9
TNO identifier
364394
ISBN
9781617384127
Source
SPE International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production 2010. 12 April 2010 through 14 April 2010. Rio de Janeiro. Conference code: 80880, 4, 2562-2570
Series
Society of Petroleum Engineers - SPE International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production 2010
Document type
conference paper