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Safety Culture: A Catalyst for Sustainable Development

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Abstract

The present paper investigates the potential benefits of a strong safety culture (SC). Specifically, we build on the organizational support theory to explore the direct and indirect effects of SC on firm performance. Partial least squares method is used to analyze the data collected from a survey among 251 Canadian plants. The results show that SC is associated with several performance indicators all linked to sustainable development (i.e., environmental, financial, and safety performance). Importantly, our findings also suggest that the relationships between SC and environmental/safety performance are mediated by the actual level of implemented environmental/safety practices within plants. We conclude the paper by highlighting the study’s limitations and contributions as well as theoretical and managerial implications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street North, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada

    Sara Hajmohammad & Stephan Vachon

Authors
  1. Sara Hajmohammad
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  2. Stephan Vachon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Hajmohammad.

Appendix 1: Survey Items

Appendix 1: Survey Items

See Table 7.

Table 7 Survey items
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Hajmohammad, S., Vachon, S. Safety Culture: A Catalyst for Sustainable Development. J Bus Ethics 123, 263–281 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1813-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1813-0

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