Safety climate measurement at workplace: development, validity and reliability

To develop a safety climate questionnaire for use in Iran, and examine its validity and reliability. A 31-item safety climate questionnaire was developed after a scientific literature review and consultation with occupational health and safety experts. 410 workers in several industrial sectors responded to the questionnaire. A 20-item questionnaire measuring safety climate was extracted from the original 31items. Exploratory factor analyses and inter-item consistency were applied to examine construct validity and reliability. Comparisons of safety climate scores among various groups by age, years of work experience and accident history were used to test discriminant validity. The analysis showed that the safety climate questionnaire loaded on seven different factors: management commitment, safety communication, safety environment, manager’s responsibility, risk perception, job satisfaction and safety awareness. These factors explained the 71.5% variance. Coefficients of inter-item consistency met psychometric requirement. Significant differences on some safety climate scales and accidental involvement and job history were detected. Management commitment, safety communication, safety environment are important factors in safety climate measurement in Iranian workers. Safety climate measurement among Iranian workers with this 20-item questionnaire is a valid and reliable maesure.