Measuring Safety

Culture/Climate of an
Organization

Michael O’Toole, PhD

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
 Employee Safety Perception
Surveys
Why Design and Use Employee Safety
Perception Surveys?
• Organizations attempting to measure part of
their safety culture/climate.
• Organizations attempting to develop a “leading
indicator” of safety outcomes.
• Organizations attempting to get a “feel” for
what their employees are thinking or are
concerned about.

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 Employee Safety Perception
Surveys
Based on the research, we know that
successful safety processes include
• Visible management commitment and
involvement
• Accountability and responsibility
• Employee involvement in the process
• Worksite analysis
• Hazard prevention and control
• Safety and health training

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 Employee Safety Perception
Surveys
Attempt to measure employee perceptions
of critical factors
So, why are perceptions important?
• Research indicates that perceptions are
suggestive of future behaviors
• In total, the perceptions of groups of employees
have shown to be predictive of future safety
results

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 Employee Safety Perception
Surveys
• Really only two ways to go with
Employee Safety Perception Surveys:
1) Developed “In-House”
2) Purchase Commercially available
instruments
 Employee Safety Perception
In-House Surveys

Advantages
• Allows more control over specific
instruments used
• Can be tailored to specific organizational
needs

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 Employee Safety Perception
In-House Surveys

Disadvantages
• May be more difficult to compare directly
with other organizations’ results
• Requires considerable time and effort to
prepare
• May not produce a reliable or valid
measure

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 Commercially Available Surveys

Advantages
• May be easier to compare directly
with other organizations’ results
• No need for time and effort to
produce a reliable or valid measure

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 Commercially Available Surveys

Disadvantages
• Less control over specific instruments or
questions used
• Cannot be tailored to specific
organizational needs
• “One size fits all” (or doesn’t!)

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 Employee Safety Perception
Surveys

Both face questions of

validity and reliability
• Reliability: Does the
survey measure
consistently?
• Validity: Does the
survey measure
accurately?

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 Reliability

Does the survey measure consistently?

• If not, survey is not good, as reliability is
necessary, but not sufficient, to show
validity
• Example: bad bathroom scale.
• Types of reliability:
• Test-retest
• Internal consistency reliability

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 Validity

Content validity
• Do items adequately reflect the relevant safety
domain?
• Criterion validity
• Are items predictive of key criteria?
• Construct validity
• Does the survey measure what it is supposed
to measure?

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 Employee Safety Perception
Surveys

Developing an in-house survey

• Questions need to relate to safety factors
• How many questions?
• Question structure
• Identify scale for responses
• e.g., Likert

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 Employee Safety Perception
Surveys

Developing an in-house survey

• Personal vs. impersonal questions
• Threatening vs. nonthreatening
questions
• Question sequencing

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 Employee Safety Perception
Surveys
Writing questions
• Questions must not be:
• Double-barreled
• Double-negative
• Socially desirable
• Extraordinarily obsequious (i.e., KISS)
• Hazardous (to respondent’s employment)

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 Employee Safety Perception
Surveys

Writing questions
Example statements
• My supervisor spends sufficient time
discussing safety issues that are
important.
• Safety is discussed often by my
supervisor.

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 Employee Safety Perception
Surveys

Administering the survey

• Need to determine if participation is
mandatory or voluntary
• Informed consent
• Key to getting employee buy-in
• Confidentiality
• Key to getting honest answers  valid
responses

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 Walk-Through Example

• Should be done by “outsider” to

better ensure confidentially
• Best results are achieved with paper
and pencil, not Web or PC

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 Walk-Through Example

• May need to consider language issues

• May need to consider literacy issues
• Person administering could assist with
questions/statements

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 Walk-Through Example

• Conduct on company time

• Conduct in meeting or break
room
• Need to assure appropriate
privacy

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 Walk-Through Example

• Collect surveys in secure manner

• “Special envelope” to insure privacy
• Minimize the handling of surveys and
responses while employees are
completing

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 Walk-Through Example

Analysis
• Breakdown by reasonable
units/departments
• Too large  sensitivity is lost
• Too small  anonymity may be lost
• Too small  statistical power will be lost

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 Walk-Through Example

Analysis
• Maintain homogeneity of groups to
be analyzed
• Common conditions should generate
more consistent results

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 Walk-Through Example

Feedback
• Needs to be presented so that
• Process is seen as worthwhile
• Management and employees
understand the gaps
• Management understands the
potential reasons for significant
gaps
• Should drive recommendations
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 Summary

• Excellent potential tool to drive

continuous improvement
• Additional tool to measure safety
performance
• Create opportunity to generate safety
focused discussions between and
among employees at all levels of the
organization

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Questions???

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