Association between psychosocial safety climate and multiple dimensions of work stress in Korea

Psychosocial Safety Climate (PSC) is an upstream organizational factor shaping the psychosocial work environment. We hypothesized that unfavorable PSC would be associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing adverse perceived occupational stressors across multiple dimensions among Korean workers using nationally representative data.

We analyzed cross-sectional data from the fifth wave of the Korean Work, Sleep, and Health Study (KWSHS), including 5,285 employed adults. PSC was measured using the validated PSC-4 scale and categorized into low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups. Perceived work stress was assessed across eight dimensions using the Korean Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS^®19). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the associations between PSC levels and high stress in each domain, adjusting for demographic and occupational covariates.

Worse PSC was significantly associated with higher odds of perceived stress across nearly all dimensions. In particular, high-risk PSC was associated with markedly increased odds of organizational injustice (OR = 9.40; 95% CI: 7.90-11.20) and inappropriate rewards (OR = 6.66; 95% CI: 5.64-7.87), even after adjustment. The domains not significantly associated with PSC were exposure to hazardous physical environments and high job demand.

Unfavorable PSC was strongly associated with elevated work stress perception across multiple psychosocial dimensions among Korean workers. These findings support the relevance of PSC theory in the Korean context and suggest that PSC may represent an important organizational factor in work stress prevention.