Validation of the group nuclear safety climate questionnaire.

INTRODUCTION Group safety climate is a leading indicator of safety performance in high reliability organizations. Zohar and Luria (2005) developed a Group Safety Climate scale (ZGSC) and found it to have a single factor. METHOD The ZGSC scale was used as a basis in this study with the researchers rewording almost half of the items on this scale, changing the referents from the leader to the group, and trying to validate a two-factor scale. The sample was composed of 566 employees in 50 groups from a Spanish nuclear power plant. Item analysis, reliability, correlations, aggregation indexes and CFA were performed. RESULTS Results revealed that the construct was shared by each unit, and our reworded Group Safety Climate (GSC) scale showed a one-factor structure and correlated to organizational safety climate, formalized procedures, safety behavior, and time pressure. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY This validation of the one-factor structure of the Zohar and Luria (2005) scale could strengthen and spread this scale and measure group safety climate more effectively.

[1]  D Parker,et al.  Development of the Pharmacy Safety Climate Questionnaire: a principal components analysis , 2009, Quality & Safety in Health Care.

[2]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[3]  W. Bennis,et al.  The Social Psychology of Organizations , 1966 .

[4]  Carl A. Kallgren,et al.  A focus theory of normative conduct: Recycling the concept of norms to reduce littering in public places. , 1990 .

[5]  Reiner Huber.  Human and Organizational Factors , 2003 .

[6]  D. Denison.  What is the Difference Between Organizational Culture and Organizational Climate? A Native's Point of View on a Decade of Paradigm Wars , 1996 .

[7]  Gil Luria,et al.  The use of supervisory practices as leverage to improve safety behavior: a cross-level intervention model. , 2003, Journal of safety research.

[8]  J. S. Tanaka,et al.  Incremental Fit Index Changes for Nested Structural Equation Models. , 1995, Multivariate behavioral research.

[9]  L. James,et al.  Estimating within-group interrater reliability with and without response bias. , 1984 .

[10]  H. Blumer,et al.  Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method , 1988 .

[11]  Carl A. Kallgren,et al.  A Focus Theory of Normative Conduct: When Norms Do and Do not Affect Behavior , 2000 .

[12]  Feng Li,et al.  Perceived colleagues' safety knowledge/behavior and safety performance: safety climate as a moderator in a multilevel study. , 2010, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[13]  D. Zohar.  The effects of leadership dimensions, safety climate, and assigned priorities on minor injuries in work groups , 2002 .

[14]  William J. Haga,et al.  A vertical dyad linkage approach to leadership within formal organizations: A longitudinal investigation of the role making process , 1975 .

[15]  P. Bliese.  Within-group agreement, non-independence, and reliability: Implications for data aggregation and analysis. , 2000 .

[16]  K. Widaman.  Hierarchically Nested Covariance Structure Models for Multitrait-Multimethod Data , 1985 .

[17]  S. Clarke.  Contrasting perceptual, attitudinal and dispositional approaches to accident involvement in the workplace , 2006 .

[18]  Jill C. Bradley,et al.  Workplace safety: a meta-analysis of the roles of person and situation factors. , 2009, The Journal of applied psychology.

[19]  A. Bandura,et al.  Social learning and personality development , 1964 .

[20]  S. Clarke.  The relationship between safety climate and safety performance: a meta-analytic review. , 2006, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[21]  T. Little.  Mean and Covariance Structures (MACS) Analyses of Cross-Cultural Data: Practical and Theoretical Issues. , 1997, Multivariate behavioral research.

[22]  B. Muthén,et al.  Assessing Reliability and Stability in Panel Models , 1977 .

[23]  Gordon W. Cheung,et al.  Evaluating Goodness-of-Fit Indexes for Testing Measurement Invariance , 2002 .

[24]  Jeremy M. Beus,et al.  Safety climate and injuries: an examination of theoretical and empirical relationships. , 2010, The Journal of applied psychology.

[25]  Anat Rafaeli,et al.  Testing safety commitment in organizations through interpretations of safety artifacts. , 2008, Journal of safety research.

[26]  Kit-Tai Hau,et al.  Goodness of fit in structural equation models , 2005 .

[27]  Blake E. Ashforth,et al.  Climate Formation: Issues and Extensions , 1985 .

[28]  James H. Steiger,et al.  Point Estimation, Hypothesis Testing, and Interval Estimation Using the RMSEA: Some Comments and a Reply to Hayduk and Glaser , 2000 .

[29]  Michael J. Burke,et al.  Estimating Interrater Agreement with the Average Deviation Index: A User’s Guide , 2002 .

[30]  P. Bentler,et al.  Significance Tests and Goodness of Fit in the Analysis of Covariance Structures , 1980 .

[31]  Dong-Chul Seo,et al.  An explicative model of unsafe work behavior , 2005 .

[32]  S. Kozlowski,et al.  From Micro to Meso: Critical Steps in Conceptualizing and Conducting Multilevel Research , 2000 .

[33]  D. Zohar.  A group-level model of safety climate: testing the effect of group climate on microaccidents in manufacturing jobs. , 2000, The Journal of applied psychology.

[34]  J. S. Long,et al.  Testing Structural Equation Models , 1993 .

[35]  Steve W. J. Kozlowski,et al.  Integration of climate and leadership: Examination of a neglected issue. , 1989 .

[36]  Todd D. Little,et al.  On the Comparability of Constructs in Cross-Cultural Research , 2000 .

[37]  Paul E. Spector.  Summated rating scale construction , 1991 .

[38]  D. Zohar,et al.  A multilevel model of safety climate: cross-level relationships between organization and group-level climates. , 2005, The Journal of applied psychology.

[39]  K. Weick.  The social psychology of organizing , 1969 .

[40]  M. Browne,et al.  Alternative Ways of Assessing Model Fit , 1992 .

[41]  F. Chen.  Sensitivity of Goodness of Fit Indexes to Lack of Measurement Invariance , 2007 .

[42]  J. H. Steiger.  Structural Model Evaluation and Modification: An Interval Estimation Approach. , 1990, Multivariate behavioral research.

[43]  Albert Sesé,et al.  Supervisor's safety response: A multisample confirmatory factor analysis , 2007 .

[44]  Aleck Ian Glendon,et al.  Safety climate factors, group differences and safety behaviour in road construction , 2001 .

[45]  J. Peiró,et al.  An examination of the antecedents and moderator influences of climate strength. , 2002, The Journal of applied psychology.

[46]  Sharon Clarke,et al.  The Role of Leader Influence Tactics and Safety Climate in Engaging Employees' Safety Participation , 2006, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[47]  D. Zohar.  Safety climate in industrial organizations: theoretical and applied implications. , 1980, The Journal of applied psychology.

[48]  D. Hofmann,et al.  Safety at work: a meta-analytic investigation of the link between job demands, job resources, burnout, engagement, and safety outcomes. , 2011, The Journal of applied psychology.

[49]  Stephen E. Johnson,et al.  The predictive validity of safety climate. , 2007, Journal of safety research.

[50]  Ronald S. Landis,et al.  Organizational climate as a moderator of safety knowledge–safety performance relationships , 2003 .

[51]  Alija Kulenović,et al.  Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing , 1999 .

[52]  Gregory E Prussia,et al.  Mental models of safety: do managers and employees see eye to eye? , 2003, Journal of safety research.

[53]  P. Bentler,et al.  Comparative fit indexes in structural models. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[54]  R. Flin,et al.  Human and organizational factors in offshore safety , 2001 .

[55]  Sharon Clarke,et al.  Safety climate in an automobile manufacturing plant: The effects of work environment, job communication and safety attitudes on accidents and unsafe behaviour , 2006 .

[56]  Kathryn Mearns,et al.  Safety climate responses and the perceived risk of accidents in the construction industry. , 2008 .

[57]  Gil Luria,et al.  Climate strength – How leaders form consensus , 2008 .

[58]  David A. Hofmann,et al.  A CROSS-LEVEL INVESTIGATION OF FACTORS INFLUENCING UNSAFE BEHAVIORS AND ACCIDENTS , 1996 .

[59]  S. Kozlowski,et al.  Multilevel Theory, Research, a n d M e t h o d s i n Organizations Foundations, Extensions, and New Directions , 2022 .

[60]  Kristin Smith-Crowe,et al.  Accurate tests of statistical significance for r(WG) and average deviation interrater agreement indexes. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[61]  Robert J. Vandenberg,et al.  Creating safer workplaces: assessing the determinants and role of safety climate. , 2004 .

[62]  D. Zohar,et al.  Climate as a social-cognitive construction of supervisory safety practices: scripts as proxy of behavior patterns. , 2004, The Journal of applied psychology.

[63]  M. Browne,et al.  Automated Fitting of Nonstandard Models. , 1992, Multivariate behavioral research.