An Investigation of Neuroticism, Safety Efficacy and Regulatory Focus as Predictors of Unsafe Work Behavior of Employees Bidboland Gas Refining Company

Most accidents are caused by unsafe behaviors or human errors. Safety experts have argued that with the increasing focus on human behavior, it can significantly reduce accidents. The aim of the present study was to examine neuroticism, safety efficacy and regulatory focus as predictors of unsafe work behavior of employee Bidboland Gas Refining Company.

The statistical population of the study consisted of all employees of operational and staffing departments of Bidboland Gas Refining Company in Khuzestan. The sample consisted of 273 employees who were selected using stratified random sampling. At first, the participants were divided into two groups, safe employees and unsafe employees by using Safety Behavior Scale (Salleh, 2010). Then to evaluate the variables studied, NEO personality characteristics (Costa & McCrae, 1992), safety efficacy (Brown, et al., 2000) and regulatory focus at work (Wallace & Chen, 2006) questionnaires were used. Data were analyzed through discriminant analysis and using SPSS 16 software.

According to the results, unsafe behavior of employees can be predicted from neuroticism, safety efficacy and regulatory focus and its dimensions (prevention focus and promotion focus).

Neuroticism increases unsafe behaviors and safety efficacy and regulatory focus (prevention focus and promotion focus) decrease unsafe behaviors of employees.