The XXVI Annual Occupational Ergonomics and Safety Conference El Paso, TX, USA June 5-6, 2014
Safety Climate in the US Hospitality and Leisure Industry Brandy Farris Ware1, Anand Subramanian1, and Edward M. Goldberg2 1
2
JFAssociates, Inc. Vienna, VA
Capella University, Minneapolis, MN
Corresponding author's Email:
[email protected]
Abstract: Safety incidence and injuries within US industry cost $55.4 billion in direct workers compensation costs in 2011. The focus on reducing safety incidence and injuries within industry is necessary to minimize costs as well as improve workplace safety. In addition to reactive safety program aspects, active management of an organizations safety climate can be a proactive step in improving safety and minimizing safety incidence. Organizational safety climate includes seven constructs. These contributing constructs include management safety priority, commitment and competence; management safety empowerment; management safety justice; workers; safety commitment; workers’ safety priority and risk nonacceptance; safety communication, learning, and trust in co-worker safety competence; workers’ trust in the efficacy of safety systems. One measurement of safety climate is the 50 question Nordic Safety Climate Questionnaire. This instrument requires the rating of series of statements on a 4-point Likert scale. The US leisure and hospitality includes approximately 14 million employees in 2013. Employees within this industry include those working in accommodation, food services, and entertainment (such as theaters and amusement parks). Some of the job tasks include cooks, waiters, waitresses, housekeepers, and desk clerks in hotels, motels, and resorts. In 2012 there were 143 fatalities and 3.8 recordable injuries per 100 full time employees. When looking at the subset of this industry that includes housekeepers, cooks, kitchen workers, dishwashers, and banquet servers, the injury rate can be as high as 5.2 per 100 workers. As a result, an investigation of the organizational safety climate within this industry was attempted. The NOSACQ-50 was distributed to 235 employees and managers who were employed within the US leisure and hospitality industry. Due to exclusion criteria 32 responses were eliminated, thus 203 surveys were analyzed. Participants included 104 (51.2%) females and 99 (48.8%) males who ranged in age from 18 to 65 with a mean age of 38 years. 83 (40.9%) of respondents were managers and 120 (59.1%) of respondents were non-managers. Tenure with the organization ranged from 2 months to 33 years and 7 months. The mean tenure was 5.36 years. The response to overall organizational safety climate included an average rating of 3.11 (standard deviation 0.45) on a 4 point scale. This implies that the perceived safety climate among the respondents was relatively high. Results in the constructs within safety climate included 3.13 out of 4 in the area of Management safety priority, commitment, and competence; 3.042 out of 4 in the area of management safety empowerment; 3.084 out of 4 in the area of management safety justice; 3.19 out of 4 in the area of workers’ safety commitment; 2.95 out of 4 in the area of workers’ safety priority and risk non-acceptance; 3.21 out of 4 in the area of safety communication, learning, and trust in co-worker safety competence; and 3.16 out of 4 in the area of workers’ trust in the efficacy of safety systems. Developers of the NOSACQ-50 recommend that ratings above 3.3 indicate a good level that should be maintained. Ratings 3.0-3.3 indicate a fairly good level where some aspects may need to be slightly improved. Ratings 2.7-2.99 indicate a fairly low level where many aspects need improvement. Ratings below 2.7 indicates a poor level with a need for significant improvement. Using these criteria, the majority of responses indicate a fairly good safety climate within the US leisure and hospitality industry with on aspect, workers’ safety priority and risk non-acceptance demonstrating fairly low ratings. As a result, organizations should evaluate and improve practices and communication related to priority on safety and the expectations that worker’s not take safety risks. Keywords: safety climate, safety culture, management
ISBN: 97819384965-2-3
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