There is a growing body of empirical evidence concerning the impact of safety culture on safety performance. Numerous studies have investigated characteristics of companies with low accident rates, while generally comparing them with similar companies with higher-than-average accident rates. A fairly consistent result of these studies conducted in industrialised as well as in developing countries, emphasises the importance of senior managers' safety commitment and leadership for safety performance (Chew 1988; Hunt and Habeck 1993; Shannon et al. 1992; Smith et al. 1978).
Moreover, most studies show that in companies with lower accident rates, the personal involvement of top managers in occupational safety is at least as important as their decisions in the structuring of the safety management system (functions that would include the use of financial and professional resources and the creation of policies and programmes amongst others).
According to Smith et al. (1978) the active involvement of senior managers acts as a motivator for all levels of management as it keeps up their interest through participation and for employees by demonstrating the management's commitment to their well-being. The results of many studies have suggested that one of the best ways of demonstrating and promoting humanistic values and people oriented philosophy is for senior management to participate in highly visible activities, such as workplace safety inspections and meetings with employees.
Many studies regarding the relationship between safety culture and safety performance pinpoint the safety behaviours of first-line supervisors by showing that supervisorsÊ involvement in a participative approach to safety management is generally associated with lower accident rates (Chew 1988; Mattila, Hyttinen and Rantanen 1994; Simard and Marchand 1994; Smith et al. 1978).
This pattern of supervisors' behaviour is exemplified by frequent formal and informal interactions and communications with workers about work and safety, paying attention to monitoring workersÊ safety performance and giving positive feedback, as well as developing the involvement of workers in accident prevention activities. Moreover, the characteristics of effective safety supervision are
the same as those for generally efficient supervision of operations and production, thereby supporting the hypothesis that there is a close connection between efficient safety management and good general management.
There is evidence that a safety-oriented workforce is a positive factor for the firm's safety performance. However, the perception and conception of workers' safety behaviours should not be reduced to just carefulness and compliance with management safety rules, though numerous behavioural experiments have shown that a higher level of workers' conformity to safety practices reduces accident rates (Saari 1990). Workforce empowerment and active involvement are also documented as factors of successful occupational safety programmes.
At the workplace level, some studies have offered evidence that effectively functioning joint health and safety committees (consisting of members who are well-trained in occupational safety, cooperate in the pursuit of their mandate and are supported by their constituencies) significantly contribute to the firmÊs safety performance (Chew 1988; Rees 1988; Tuohy and Simard 1992). Similarly, at the lower level, work groups that are encouraged by management to develop team safety and self regulation generally have a better safety performance than work groups subject to authoritarianism and social disintegration (Dwyer 1992; Lanier 1992).
It can be concluded from the previously mentioned scientific evidence that a particular type of safety culture is more conducive to safety performance. In brief, this safety culture combines:
(a) Top management's leadership and support;
(b) Lower management's commitment; and
(c) Employees' involvement in occupational safety.
This form of safety culture is one that scores high on what can be conceptualised
as the two major dimensions of the safety culture concept, namely safety mission
and safety involvement.
Safety mission refers to the priority given to occupational safety in the firm's mission. Literature on organisational culture stress the importance of an explicit and shared definition of a mission that grows out of and supports the key values of the organisation (Denison 1990).
Consequently, the safety mission dimension reflects the degree to which:
(a) Occupational safety and health are acknowledged by top management as a key value of the firm; and
(b) Upper-level managers use their leadership to promote the internalisation of this value in management systems and practices.
It can then be hypothesised that a strong sense of safety mission (+) impacts positively on safety performance because it motivates the individual members of the workplace to adopt goal-directed behaviours regarding safety at work and facilitates coordination by defining a common goal as well as an external criterion for orienting behaviour.
Meanwhile, safety involvement is when supervisors and employees join together to develop team safety at the low levels.
According to Denison (1990), organisational culture supports the argument that high levels of involvement and participation contribute to better performance because:
(a) They create among organisational members a sense of ownership and responsibility leading to a greater voluntary commitment that facilitates the coordination of behaviour; and
(b) They reduce the necessity of explicit bureaucratic control systems.
Moreover, some studies show that involvement can be a manager's strategy for effective performance as well as a worker's strategy for a better work environment (Lawler 1986; Walton 1986).
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