RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: Occupational stress models suggest that the ability to understand, predict, and control stressful events minimizes their impact. This study examines the applicability of the stress antidote theory to the safety environment. Newly developed measures assess understanding why and how unsafe events occur, predicting the occurrence of unsafe events, and controlling unsafe events, and how these constructs relate to safety performance at work. In addition, the role of supervisor safety support is explored. PARTICIPANTS: 424 employees in the Facilities department at a large university. METHODS: Measures were developed based on existing literature and focus groups, and participants completed a survey about their safety experiences at work. RESULTS: Analyses conducted using structural equation modeling indicate that safety understanding, safety prediction, and safety control are related but distinct variables. Safety understanding affects safety performance through safety control, while supervisor support for safety affects safety performance both directly and indirectly through control. CONCLUSION: Lack of understanding of safety or inability to predict dangerous outcomes may be necessary but not sufficient to explain unsafe workplace behaviors. Employees' safety behaviors may be more directly influenced by the extent to which they have the power to control safety in their work environment.
Asunto(s)
Salud Laboral , Cultura Organizacional , Administración de la Seguridad , Adulto , Recolección de Datos , Femenino , Grupos Focales , Humanos , Masculino , Traumatismos Ocupacionales/prevención & control , Estados Unidos , UniversidadesRESUMEN
The utility of the job demand-control-support (JDCS) model for explaining psychological and physical well-being has been documented in a variety of settings. The current study's purpose was to assess the effectiveness of the JDCS model for predicting occupational safety well-being criteria (i.e., workplace injuries) based on two studies that employed samples of union blue-collar workers from two different regions of the United States. The JDCS model's buffer hypotheses were evaluated using hierarchical linear modeling. Both studies showed significant interactions between situational constraints and safety control to predict workplace injuries such that safety control buffered the negative effects of situational constraints. No significant three-way interaction between situational constraints, safety control, and safety climate on workplace injuries was found for either study. The implications of the present findings for both the JDCS model and occupational safety research are discussed.