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Organizational Factors, Management Commitment, and Workplace Safety
| Principal Investigator(s): | Harry S. Shannon (McMaster University) |
| Co-Investigator(s): | Lynne Lohfeld (McMaster University); John Gilbert (University of Toronto) |
| Sponsoring Institution: | McMaster University |
Objectives
In 1990, we conducted a survey of manufacturing and retail organizations in Ontario to ask them about their policies, practices, attitudes (PPAs), including many aspects of how they deal with occupational health and safety (OH&S). We found that a number of PPAs (management commitment to OH&S, safety training, etc.) were related to lower lost-time injury rates (LTI). Since that time, injury rates in Ontario (based on claims to the WSIB) have dropped considerably. We wanted to understand if this drop might be explained by improved PPAs. As well, since management commitment is seen as crucial, we wanted to learn what senior managers view as the barriers to, and incentives for, improved OH&S.
The project therefore had three specific objectives:
- to see if possible changes in PPAs in workplaces might help to account for the drop in WSIB rates in Ontario over the last decade;
- to examine what we have defined as ‘low,’ ‘medium,’ and ‘high’ injury-rate workplaces to see if relationships between PPAs and current injury rates are consistent with previous research; and,
- to identify barriers to, and incentives for, increased management commitment to creating safer and healthier workplaces.
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Methods
This study was a follow-up to a 1990 mail survey study of approximately 1000 workplaces in Ontario. New questionnaires, mailed to companies that had participated in 1990 and to those never surveyed before, were completed by management personnel and the worker co-chair of the Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC). We had responses from 42% of the workplaces. In addition, a small number of interviews were conducted with senior managers from companies that provided survey data in order to learn more about management’s role in promoting workplace health and safety.
Results
Comparison Over Time (1990-2001)
- In the manufacturing workplaces we re-surveyed in 2001, we looked at several variables that were known to be related to lower lost-time injury rates, and found that companies had changed in many ways:
- an increase in safety training
- an increase in the executive functions of the JHSC (e.g., approving new technology, rather than simply recommending it)
- greater labour involvement in the JHSC (e.g., providing solutions)
- greater accountability and direct involvement of upper management in health and safety (e.g., by attending meetings, conducting inspections, defining health and safety responsibilities in managers’ job descriptions).
These ‘best practices’ may well have played an important role in the decline in Ontario’s lost-time injury rates over the last 10 years. Particularly relevant are the actions and attitudes of the most senior manager, which presumably affect a company’s safety culture and help to reduce accidents.
- Some other variables previously linked to higher lost-time injury rates were also more prevalent in 2001:
- more work stoppages for OH&S issues
- greater perception of risk from hazards (e.g., ergonomic, housekeeping)
- a rise in workers’ lobbying management for OH&S improvements.
These unexpected changes are probably caused by managements’ and workers’ greater awareness today of the importance of occupational OH&S issues and the need to address them. We do not think they reflect worse OH&S. Regardless, employees who speak openly and deal with potential problems may be more common in unionized workplaces than non-unionized ones, since we found that only in union sites were workers more likely to push management for OH&S improvements.
- We looked at the changes (mainly decreases) in lost-time injury rates across workplaces in our study. We wanted to see if they were related to the PPAs we measured in 1990. However, we were largely unable to predict injury rate changes based on our PPA data. We interpret this to mean that if a company makes efforts to improve their approaches to OH&S, benefits can be seen quickly; likewise, if a company stops paying attention, a good OH&S record can deteriorate rapidly.
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Cross-Sectional Data (2000)
- We looked at whether the most recent injury rates were related to the latest (2001) survey of PPAs. Various factors showing management’s care for its employees were related to lower injury rates, just as previous research has found:
- low injury workplaces were more likely than high injury sites to encourage long-term career commitments from management and skilled workers
- low injury workplaces were more likely to provide disability plans and modified work programs
- at least in retail worksites, low injury sites had a lower turnover rate.
- Exactly how low turnover is related to safety is not clear. Employees who stay longer with a company have more experience and/or may get better OH&S training, which directly affects their behaviour; or, companies that treat workers well and retain them may be better able to maintain safer workplaces. The reverse is also possible: if workplaces are safe, workers stay.
- Claim rates were lower at less hazardous workplaces, as were perceptions of risk of lost-time accidents and environmental hazards (e.g., chemical, temperature). Also, lower injury workplaces were more likely to use computer-controlled machinery, which may be important in keeping workers out of ‘harm’s way’ while computers control production. However, automation itself does not reduce accidents, as high injury workplaces also used automated machines and were more likely to have introduced new technologies in the last three years. These data caution us that workplaces intending to invest resources into machine upgrading should first evaluate the potential impact on injury rates and ensure appropriate training.
- Low injury workplaces were more likely to give worker safety awards, and were more likely to conduct OH&S measurements (e.g., employee perception surveys, lost-time statistics). Their managements more often recognized health and safety issues on the spot, implying that they go beyond formal and objective measures in determining policy. The importance of management’s genuine concern for improved safety is shown by the finding that low injury sites were more likely to view OH&S as being at least as important as other aspects of the company (e.g., competitive-ness, profits). Managements also regarded worker attitude as essential.
- Greater involvement of the JHSC was related to lower injury rates. JHSCs at firms with lower injury rates more often had executive functions, rather than simply making suggestions, and were responsible for worker training.
In-Depth Interviews
- Most managers we interviewed were representatives of their JHSC in addition to receiving committee reports and authorizing health and safety expenditures.
- Managers readily described the main types of accidents that occurred in their workplace, their causes, and how to prevent them. They also said that prevention should focus on better training and supervision of new workers and ways to change long-term workers’ complacent attitudes.
- We asked managers to rank, from most to least important, 10 cards describing ways to motivate a company to promote OH&S. In general, corporate and personal values/ attitudes were the most important, whereas adverse publicity and public recognition for a poor health and safety record were least important. Some managers expressed a desire for a more positive, proactive approach in promoting OH&S, pointing to the large number of ‘negative’ motivators that are currently set in place (e.g., inspections by the Ministry of Labour, penalties/prosecutions for OH&S violations).
- Cost did not appear to be a major barrier to improving occupational health and safety, although many managers reported that they had limited financial resources to invest in health and safety relative to productivity and profitability.
- There was considerable difference of opinion about the utility of bonus schemes to encourage a good OH&S record. Managers in favour of bonus schemes referred to successes from other firms; those against this system pointed out the potential for workers to under-report injuries or to undergo scrutiny/hostility for reporting injuries.
Conclusions
- Our study allowed us to learn more about the various organizational factors (e.g., rise in worker safety training, greater executive functions from the health and safety committee, more involvement of upper management in OH&S issues) that we think helped spur the reduction in lost-time injury rates over the past decade. We should point out that these factors may not apply to all organizations, like other sectors of the economy, recently-opened businesses, and/or smaller workplaces with no safety committee.
- The results of the study confirmed the importance of organization-level factors in dealing with health and safety. The attention given to OH&S increased during the 1990s. This helps to explain the substantial drop in injury rates in Ontario during that time. However, there are still differences between companies, even in the same type of business, and there remains a good deal of room for further improvement.
- The managers we interviewed strongly stated their desire ‘do the right thing.’ That is, they were keen to ensure the health and safety of their workers because it is required both morally and legally. Most managers emphasized moral and personal reasons for paying attention to health and safety. Many also reported that the corporate values of the organization emphasized the need to look after workers’ health and safety. In addition, managers felt it very important that they were obeying the law, although some noted that it could be difficult to keep up with changes in relevant laws and regulations. The possibility of adverse publicity for poor safety performance or winning awards for good performance were seen as irrelevant by many of those interviewed. This seems to be the case for smaller companies, that do not have a high public profile.
- Our analysis of current PPA revealed several significant associations, many of which were consistent with previous research. Our main findings indicate that both worker involvement and demonstrated concern for OH&S on the part of management and workers are characteristics of lower injury workplaces. We suggest that the attitudes of management and the way those attitudes translate into actions are what contribute to safer workplaces.
Publications
Geldart, S., Shannon, H., and Lohfeld, L. (2005), “Have Companies Improved their Health and Safety Approaches over the Last Decade? A Longitudinal Study.” American Journal of Industrial Medicine 47:227-236.
For more information:
shannonh@mcmaster.ca
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