Safety Climate in the Food and Manufacturing Sectors: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Study Using NOSACQ-50

Abstract

The safety climate is an important factor that determines the performance of occupational safety especially in the high-listening industries like food processing and manufacturing. The purpose of the study was to measure the safety climate in the organizations that are run by local and multinational employers through the Nordic Occupational Safety Climate Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50). The survey design was cross-sectional, and the sample of 582 workers was chosen and surveyed working in the food and manufacturing industry in Pakistan, and data compared with the organizations active in Saudi Arabia. Presentation of safety climate dimensions and differences between countries were analyzed by descriptive statistics and using independent samples t-tests. The findings reflected an average to excellent overall safety climate. The highest mean scores were found in commitment to the safety of workers and trust in the effectiveness of safety systems in workers as they indicated high intrinsic motivation towards safety and faith in formal safety systems. Conversely, there was lowest score on workers safety priority and risk non-acceptance, which implies that there is a propensity to experience unsafe work environment due to the production pressure. There were moderate levels of management safety priority, commitment, competence and empowerment. The comparison between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia showed no statistically significant differences in the dimensions of safety climate studied.

Findings indicate a lack of relationship between the positive safety attitudes and the real risk-avoidance behavior, which indicates the effect of organizational and institutional influence on safety practices. The study has a contribution to the literature of the safety climate because it takes the body of empirical evidence to a developing-country setting and shows that the institutional theory is relevant in the explanation of the dynamics of the safety climate. Pragmatic implications reflect the need to enhance safety leadership, empowerment of the employees, and coordination of safety systems and operation practices to enhance the safety outcomes at the workplace.