(53b) Safety Climate and Decision Making

This paper describes a pilot study examining the influence of individual difference characteristics and safety climate on safety-related decision making. Safety climate is defined as employee perceptions of the policies, practices, and procedures concerning safety at their organization. Safety climate can be understood by examining employee perceptions of the types of safety behaviors that are rewarded, supported, and expected. We conducted a survey-based experiment in which we manipulated the level of risk (hi, low, and uncertain) for two factors: people and the organization, described in a hypothetical scenario. Participants indicated how likely they would chose one of two responses to reflect how they would proceed if they were in this situation. They also responded to a series of questions designed to measure safety climate for their organization as well as individual propensities to take risks and/or be productive. Results of the study reveal the relative influence of individual differences and safety climate on safety-related decision making.