An exploratory investigation into safety climate and work-related driving

Few studies have examined the impact of safety climate upon occupational safety behavior or intentions, focusing instead on the event of incidents and injuries. Similarly, while safety climate has been studied in numerous industrial settings, limited attention has been given to the motor vehicle fleet context. This study conceptualized safety climate and work-related driver safety within a model informed by Bandura's Reciprocal Determinism and the Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior. The relative impact of safety climate upon four self-reported measures of work-related driver safety was investigated including: 1) current work-related driver behavior, 2) future work-related driving intentions, and 3) past crash involvement while driving for work. There was a moderate relationship between safety climate perceptions and the safety of current driver behavior at work (r = 0.40). The relationship with the safety of future driving intentions was also moderate (r = 0.29). Multiple regression analyses revealed that safety climate was a significant predictor of current driver behavior (beta = 0.30) and future driving intentions (beta = 0.18) at work. However, attitude was the stronger predictor of future driving intentions (beta = 0.28). Logistic regression analyses showed that neither fleet safety climate, nor the other factors included, predicted work-related crash involvement or traffic offences. Possible explanations for these results are outlined. Implications of the findings for occupational safety management, particularly in the fleet setting, are also discussed.