Perceived safety climate, job demands, and coworker support among union and nonunion injured construction workers

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Abstract

Problem: This study evaluated injured construction workers' perceptions of workplace safety climate, psychological job demands, decision latitude, and coworker support, and the relationship of these variables to the injury severity sustained by the workers. Methods: Injury severity was assessed using the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), which evaluates functional limitations. Worker perceptions of workplace variables were determined by two instruments: (a) the Safety Climate Measure for Construction Sites and (b) the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ). Results: The overall model explained 23% of the variance in injury severity, with unique contributions provided by union status, the Safety Climate Score, and Psychological Job Demands. A positive significant correlation was found between injury severity and the Safety Climate Scores (r=.183, P=.003), and between the Safety Climate Scores and union status (r=.225, P<.001). Discussion: There were statistically significant differences between union and nonunion workers' responses regarding perceived safety climate on 5 of the 10 safety climate items. Union workers were more likely than nonunion workers to: (a) perceive their supervisors as caring about their safety; (b) be made aware of dangerous work practices; (c) have received safety instructions when hired; (d) have regular job safety meetings; and (e) perceive that taking risks was not a part of their job. However, with regard to the 49-item JCQ, which includes Coworker Support, the responses between union and nonunion workers were very similar, indicating an overall high degree of job satisfaction. However, workers who experienced their workplace as more safe also perceived the level of management (r=−.55, P<.001) and coworker (r=−.31, P<.001) support as being higher. Impact on industry: The findings of this study underscore the critical need for construction managers to alert workers to dangerous work practices and conditions more frequently, and express concern and praise workers for safe work in a manner that is culturally acceptable in this industry. Workplace interventions that decrease the incidence and severity of injuries, but that are flexible enough to meet a variety of potentially competing imperatives, such as production deadlines and client demands, need to be identified.

Introduction

In 1998, the construction industry reported the largest number of workplace fatalities (N=1171) compared to any other industry, accounting for almost 20% of the total deaths (U.S. Department of Labor [USDOL], Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS], 1999). Of these deaths, 383 of them occurred as the result of falls from roofs, scaffolds, ladders, and girders or other structural steel edifices. Many more construction workers are either temporarily or permanently disabled each year. In 1997, the nonfatal injury rate for construction workers was 9.3 per 100 full-time workers, considerably above the industry rate of 6.6 per 100 full-time workers (USDOL, BLS, 1998).

What contributes to the occurrence of injuries or their severity is not always clear. The concept of work or safety climate and how workers perceive the safety climate of their workplace was raised as an issue 20 years ago by Zohar (1980). At that time, it was recognized that successful injury control programs are based on a strong management commitment to safety, including the status of safety officers within the organization, worker training, regular communication between management and workers, general housekeeping, and a stable workforce (Zohar, 1980). Safety climate, considered a subset of overall organizational climate, is one way of identifying characteristics that might distinguish between employers with high or low injury rates Coyle et al., 1995, Zohar, 1980. Psychological climate has been identified as yet another dimension of employees' perceptions of the organization in which they work, though the dimensions of this measure include items such as trust, cohesion, pressure, innovation, and fairness, among others (Koys & DeCotiis, 1991).

Workplace safety climate has been measured in various industrial sectors including construction Dedobbeleer & Beland, 1991, Gillen et al., 1997, Matilla et al., 1994, manufacturing Brown & Holmes, 1986, Zohar, 1980, airport ground handling (Diaz & Cabrera, 1997), and road administration (Niskanen, 1994). More recently, the concept of safety climate has been explored quite extensively in various health care settings (DeJoy, Gershon, & Murphy, 1998; Gershon, personal communication, 1999; Gershon et al., 1999, Schaefer & Moos, 1996).

Other concepts such as psychological and physical job demands, decision latitude, and support from supervisors or coworkers may lead to job strain and affect personal health or workplace safety and health (Karasek & Theorell, 1990). Job strain and its relationship to cardiovascular diseases has been studied extensively Alfredsson et al., 1982, Alfredsson et al., 1985, Johnson & Hall, 1988, Karasek et al., 1981, Karasek & Theorell, 1990, Karasek et al., 1988, Karasek et al., 1982, Schnall et al., 1994, Schnall et al., 1990. The job strain model has also been used to study white-collar workers in Sweden (Karasek, 1990) and Canada (Bourbonnais, Brisson, Moisan, & Vezina, 1996), health care workers in the United States (Seago & Faucett, 1997), blue-collar workers in Japan (Kawakami et al., 1997), and construction workers in Sweden (Holmstrom, Lindell, & Moritz, 1993).

In this study of 255 construction workers who had sustained nonfatal falls, their perceptions of the safety climate of the worksite where they were injured, and their perceptions of job demands, decision latitude, and coworker support were explored as possible contributing factors to the severity of their injuries. The research hypothesis relevant to this part of the study was that when controlling for age, height of fall, and surface upon which they landed, the following unique variables would contribute to injury severity: union status, construction type, Safety Climate Measure Score, size of work group, length of time at job site, the Decision Latitude score (control), the Psychological Job Demands score (demands), and the Coworker Support score. While not part of the model, descriptive information regarding workers' perceptions of supervisor support is also included in this paper. Two instruments were administered to the injured workers to measure the above constructs, the Safety Climate Measure for Construction Sites (Dedobbeleer & Beland, 1991) and the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ; Karasek, Pieper, Schwartz, Fry, & Schrier, 1985). Injury severity was measured using the disability section of the Stanford University Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). The HAQ measures functional limitations in eight categories such as dressing, eating, walking, grip, reaching, and other activities of daily living Fries et al., 1980, Ramey et al., 1995, Ramey et al., 1992. For a complete discussion of the functional limitations sustained by participants in this study, please refer to Gillen (1999).

Section snippets

Overview

Construction workers (N=255), injured in California, were recruited through Doctor's First Report of Injury (DFRs) sent to the California Department of Industrial Relations over a 5-month time period. Cases were selected approximately 2 weeks of each month during the study period (October 1995–March 1996). Subjects were interviewed by telephone at a time that was convenient for the worker. The study was conducted under a human subjects protection protocol approved by the University of

Perceived safety climate

The Safety Climate Measure for Construction Sites analyzed worker perceptions of job safety regarding management concerns, safety activities, and employee risk. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the 10-item Safety Climate Measure was .78. The mean Safety Climate Measure score was 18.64 (S.D.=4.87) with a minimum score of 10 and a maximum score of 32. There was a statistically significant correlation between the HAQ scores and the safety scores (r=.183, P=.003).

Sixty percent of the workers (n

Safety climate

Health and safety issues in construction are complex, as are issues in union and nonunion establishments. Construction is a large industry comprised of many small employers. Workers tend to have several employers each year. In addition, the physical site and its environment change daily, hence construction workers become the primary caretakers of their own safety (Ringen, Seegal, & Englund, 1995). In a recent study that compared workers' perceptions of the “Worksite Health Climate,” blue-collar

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Richard Lack, Maurie Rohloff, and Scott Schneider for their thoughtful critiques and to Steven Paul for statistical consultation.

Marion Gillen, RN, MPH, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing. Prior to this position, she was a research scientist with the California Public Health Foundation working on the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program, in cooperation with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

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  • Cited by (0)

    Marion Gillen, RN, MPH, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing. Prior to this position, she was a research scientist with the California Public Health Foundation working on the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program, in cooperation with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

    Davis Baltz, MS, is a Senior Research Associate at Commonweal, a health and environmental research institute in Bolinas, CA. Prior to this, Mr. Baltz worked in Asia on several educational and environmental health projects.

    Margy Gassel, MA, PhD, is a Research Scientist II with the California Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Prior to her current position, Dr. Gassel was a Research Scientist I with the California Department of Health Services.

    Luz Kirsch, BA, is a Bilingual Research Associate for the Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Program of the California Department of Health Services (CDHS), in the Occupational Health Branch. In her prior position with CDHS, she was a Bilingual Epidemiologic Interviewer.

    Diane Vaccaro, RN, MS, is a Surgery and Trauma Clinical Nurse Specialist at the San Francisco General Hospital. Prior to this position, Ms. Vaccaro was the Trauma Clinical Case Manager, also at the San Francisco General Hospital.

    Contract grant sponsor: California Department of Health Services, Occupational Health Branch: Contract Grant No. 94-21111 A03, MOU#5; contract grant sponsors: AAOHN Otis Clapp Research Award, University of California, San Francisco (Graduate Research Award and Century Club Funds). The research was conducted at the University of California, San Francisco, in conjunction with the California Department of Health Services.

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