Safety-Culture Exploration in Taiwan’s Metal Industries: Identifying the Workers’ Background Influence on Safety Climate

Shu-Chiang Lin, Ilma Mufidah and Satria Fadil Persada
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Shu-Chiang Lin: Department of Industrial Management, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 43, Keelung Road, Da’an District, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Ilma Mufidah: Department of Industrial Management, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 43, Keelung Road, Da’an District, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Satria Fadil Persada: Department of Business Management, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Surabaya 60111, Indonesia

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: The present study aims to assess the safety-climate level in Taiwan’s metal industries, as well as to identify the influence of workers’ backgrounds on the safety climate. An earlier report showed that a poor safety culture was related to the cause of accidents in Taiwan’s traditional manufacturing industries. This study surveyed a total of 839 workers who voluntarily participated and completed the safety-culture questionnaires. These workers were from a Taiwanese metal company and its five satellite companies. Three safety-climate factors, namely safety perception, safety communication and safety-management systems, were assessed. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted by developing structural equation modeling to ensure the questionnaire’s validity. The influence of workers’ backgrounds on the safety climate was identified by using one-way ANOVA. The reliability result of the questionnaire was above the acceptable level. The overall safety-climate score was 4.22 out of a five-point scale for safety perception, 4.23 for safety-management systems and 3.97 for safety communication. The scores indicate a good level of safety climate, with room for improvement in safety communication. Additionally, the influence of workers’ backgrounds on the safety climate was confirmed. Based on the validity test, it was also found that the questionnaire could be improved by reconstructing its questions in its development process in order to increase the safety-climate model’s reliability and validity, as well as its model fit.

Keywords: safety culture; safety climate; workers’ background; CFA; ANOVA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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