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Psychosocial safety climate, safety compliance and safety participation: The mediating role of psychological distress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2019

Muhammad Zeeshan Mirza Open the ORCID record for Muhammad Zeeshan Mirza [Opens in a new window] ,
Ahmad Shahrul Nizam Isha ,
Mumtaz Ali Memon ,
Sundas Azeem Open the ORCID record for Sundas Azeem [Opens in a new window]  and
Muhammad Zahid
Muhammad Zeeshan Mirza*
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Management, College of E&ME, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan
Ahmad Shahrul Nizam Isha
Affiliation:
Department of Management and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar, 31750 Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia
Mumtaz Ali Memon
Affiliation:
Air University School of Management, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Sundas Azeem
Affiliation:
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
Muhammad Zahid
Affiliation:
Department of Management Sciences, City University of Science & Information Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan
*
*Corresponding author. Email: zeeshanmirza21@hotmail.com
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Abstract

We conceptualize that psychosocial safety climate (PSC) has a positive effect on employees' safety behavior by reducing their psychological distress. A high-level PSC environment reduces psychological distress by eliminating the employees' need for devoting psychological resources toward safety concerns. This preserves psychological resources to be invested in important behaviors i.e., safety compliance and participation. Data were collected from 190 production workers in the oil and gas industry across three states of Malaysia. Results showed strong support for our hypotheses. PSC was negatively linked with psychological distress. Psychological distress predicted safety compliance and participation and mediated the relationship between PSC and safety compliance/participation. Results suggest that in order to improve safety compliance and participation, management in safety-sensitive industries should pay attention to psychosocial factors in the work environment. The implications of these results for safety interventions and further research are discussed.

Keywords

psychosocial safety climatepsychological distresssafety compliancesafety participationMalaysia
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , March 2022 , pp. 363 - 378
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2019

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