Development and validation of a safety behavior scale for industrial workplaces

Objectives. Leading indicators are an important approach for evaluating safety performance. Safety behavior is one of the leading indicators and the existence of a valid and standardized tool to measure safety behavior is essential. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide a standard tool for assessing safety behavior in industrial workplaces. Methods. A preliminary questionnaire with 25 items was prepared based on a comprehensive literature review. After performing face validity, content validity, construct validity and reliability checks, a 22-item questionnaire was finally validated to assess safety behavior. Data analysis was conducted by Smart-PLS version 3. Results. The content validity revealed that 22 items of the questionnaire had a content validity index and a content validity ratio greater than 0.78 and 0.62, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis showed safety behavior with 22 items in three dimensions, which explained a total of 59.3% of the changes in safety behavior. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the structures of the safety behavior questionnaire. Composite reliability and Cronbach's α for 22 items were found to be 0.93 and 0.92, respectively, pointing to excellent instrument reliability. Conclusion. This study provides a valid and reliable tool for measuring the safety behavior of employees in different industries.