Safety voice climate: A psychometric evaluation and validation

Introduction: Speaking up about safety issues, termed “safety voice,” is a proactive response where people across all levels of the organization express their concerns to prevent physical hazards. An understanding of safety voice requires insight into its antecedents. A perceived need to fit in with the organization and fear of consequences can trump the courage to speak out about safety concerns. Safety voice climate can be seen as a manifestation of the social exchanges in an organization and functions as a roadmap of which speaking out behaviors are encouraged and which behaviors are not. This study conceptualizes safety voice climate, presents the Safety Voice Climate Scale (SVCS) as a measurement tool, and gathers initial evidence for its validity. The study also assesses the associations between the SVCS and safety voice behavior. Method: The SVCS and the measurement of safety voice behavior were derived from the Trends in Risk Level in the Norwegian Petroleum Activity questionnaire. The SVCS includes the two theoretical dimensions Work colleagues’ encouragement of safety voice and Leaders’ attitudes towards safety voice. Psychometric properties were tested with a representative sample from the Norwegian petroleum sector (n = 7,624). Results: Confirmatory factor analyses supported the proposed two-factor model, and the internal consistency of the factors was good. Furthermore, a structural equation model including the SVCS as predictors of safety voice behavior showed a good fit, indicating acceptable criterion validity, although only the Work colleagues’ encouragement of safety voice variable was significantly associated with safety voice behavior. Conclusion and practical application: The SVCS can be used as a tool to detect some of the barriers and supporting elements relating to safety voice and guidance on the efforts needed to foster work climates that promote communication of safety issues.publishedVersio

Psychosocial factors and safety in high-risk industries: a systematic literature review

Most large-scale industrial catastrophes (like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, or Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear disaster) result from a combination of faults in technical arrangements and neglected social structures featuring a workplace. Whereas it has been acknowledged that human-factor causes can be attributed to accidents in high-risk industries, research in this domain remains scattered and in need of integration. Considered from a psychological perspective, the primary objective of this study is therefore to systematically review existing associations between psychosocial work characteristics and safety in high-risk industries. While grounded in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theoretical model, this study adopts a systematic literature methodology and synthesizes identified empirical evidence through a framework synthesis approach. Results indicate that there is preliminary evidence of a link between the exposure to workplace psychosocial factors and safety in high-risk industries. Studies of the linkages between psychosocial factors and safety behavior are more prevalent and do more often find significant associations between the variables than studies that investigate associations between psychosocial factors and safety outputs. Moreover, results indicate that job demand factors are likely to trigger employees’ health-impairing mental/physical conditions that can constitute a precursor of unsafe behavior. Results imply as well the existence of a link between work-induced psychosocial states (typically in a form of stress or exhaustion) and safety. Limitations in the existing evidence base are recognized, thoroughly discussed with several suggestions for further development of the research field being offered. Practical and theoretical implications of the results are presented.publishedVersio

Speaking up about safety concerns in high-risk industries: Correlates of safety voice in the offshore oil rig sector

Speaking up about safety issues – or safety voice – is a proactive response involving people at all levels of the organization who are willing to express their concern in response to perceived hazards. This study investigated psychosocial correlates of safety voice and effects of safety voice on safety measures. Drawing on Job Demand Resources theory (JD-R) we suggested that job resources in the form of supportive leadership and job control are positively associated to safety voice and that job demands are negatively associated with safety voice. Furthermore, we studied the association between safety voice and the outcome variables safety risk and personal injuries. Data were derived from the “Trends in risk level in the petroleum activity” (RNNP) survey and included 7505 respondents from the Norwegian offshore oil rig sector. As hypothesized, we found a negative association between job demands and safety voice and positive associations between safety voice and the resource variables leader support and job control. Moreover, safety voice behaviour was negatively associated with the outcome variables safety risk and personal injuries. An implication from these findings is that safety voice should be encouraged in the high-risk industries by nurturing healthy work environments in which employees have the capacity and support to speak up to prevent hazards.publishedVersio

Scoping review of research on gastrointestinal effects of selected emulsifiers, stabilisers, and thickeners

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Risk assessment of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Opinion of the Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids, Materials in Contact with Food, and Cosmetics of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

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Risk assessment of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Opinion of the Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids, Materials in Contact with Food, and Cosmetics of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

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Risk-benefit assessment of sunscreen: Opinion of the Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids, Materials in Contact with Food, and Cosmetics of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

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Risk-benefit assessment of sunscreen: Opinion of the Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids, Materials in Contact with Food, and Cosmetics of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

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Risk assessment of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Opinion of the Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids, Materials in Contact with Food, and Cosmetics of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

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Risk assessment of caffeine exposure from diet and personal care products. Opinion of the Panel on Food Additives, Flavourings, Processing Aids, Materials in Contact with Food, and Cosmetics of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

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