Journal article
The Safety Climate Assessment Tool (S-CAT): A rubric-based approach to measuring construction safety climate
Journal of safety research, Vol.69, pp.43-51
06/2019
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/115061
PMID: 31235234
Abstract
Introduction: This paper presents the development and validation of a new rubric-based Safety Climate Assessment Tool (S-CAT). The S-CAT gives companies the opportunity to use rubric descriptors, rather than traditional Likert scale responses, to self-assess their level of safety climate maturity and receive a composite score benchmarked against others in the S-CAT database. Method: The S-CAT is composed of 37 separate indicators of 8 safety climate factors identified by construction industry subject matter experts. The eight factors have between three and six indicators each with its own rubric-based response-scale. The scales comprise descriptors for five levels of safety climate maturity ranging from “inattentive” to “exemplary.” Nine hundred and eighty-five respondents working in the construction industry completed the S-CAT via our online safety climate website. We used company recordable incident rates (RIR) to assess the S-CAT's criterion-related validity. Results: Cronbach alphas for each factor ranged from 0.77 to 0.90 and a confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized eight factor structure with a higher-order safety climate factor. Seven of the eight factor scores, as well as the overall S-CAT score, were significantly negatively correlated with RIR. Moreover, a relative weights analysis indicated that a weighted combination of the eight safety climate factors explained 27% of the variance in organizational RIR. Conclusions: These findings provide evidence that the S-CAT is a reliable tool allowing construction companies to self-assess their safety climate along eight different factors. Moreover, the S-CAT was significantly associated with organizational injury rates. Practical applications: We discuss how companies can use the rubric descriptors to strengthen their safety management systems and improve their safety climate maturity.
•We develop a rubric-based safety climate assessment tool.•The S-CAT is validated using data from N = 985 construction industry employees.•Results confirm the reliability and expected factor structure of the S-CAT.•S-CAT scores are negatively associated with organizational injury rates.
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Details
- Title
- The Safety Climate Assessment Tool (S-CAT): A rubric-based approach to measuring construction safety climate
- Creators
- Tahira M Probst - Washington State University Vancouver, Vancouver, WA, United States of AmericaLinda M Goldenhar - CPWR, Silver Spring, MD, United States of AmericaJesse L Byrd - Washington State University Vancouver, Vancouver, WA, United States of AmericaEileen Betit - CPWR, Silver Spring, MD, United States of America
- Publication Details
- Journal of safety research, Vol.69, pp.43-51
- Academic Unit
- Psychology, Department of
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Identifiers
- 99900547447001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article