Safety Climate and Beyond: A Multi-Level Multi-Climate Framework

Following more than two decades of safety-climate research focusing on measurement and application, it is time for renewal and progress. The present paper offers a concise description of the current framework, followed by an extension into a multi-level framework that identifies organization-level and group-level safety climates as distinct constructs with separate measurement scales. After discussing theoretical and practical implications, including empirical evidence, the paper presents a second extension, which suggests that the effect of safety climate will depend on its complementary climate, identified as work-ownership climate. Jointly, these ideas outline a new research agenda designed to encourage progress beyond the measurement and operationalization phase.

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