Can Civility Norms Boost Positive Effects of Management Commitment to Safety?

ABSTRACT

We proposed that civility norms would strengthen relationships between management commitment to safety and workers' safety motivation, safety behaviors, and injuries. Survey data were obtained from working adults in hazardous jobs—those for which physical labor is required and/or a realistic possibility of physical injury is present (N = 290). Results showed that management commitment positively related to workers' safety motivation, safety participation, and safety compliance, and negatively related to minor injuries. Furthermore, management commitment to safety displayed a stronger positive relationship with safety motivation and safety participation, and a stronger negative relationship with minor worker injuries when civility norms were high (versus low). The results confirm existing known relationships between management commitment to safety and worker safety motivation and behavior; furthermore, civility norms facilitate the relationships between management commitment to safety and various outcomes important to worker safety. In order to promote an optimally safe working environment, managers should demonstrate a commitment to worker safety and promote positive norms for interpersonal treatment between workers in their units.

KEYWORDS:

• accidents
• civility
• injuries
• management commitment to safety
• safety climate

Acknowledgments

We thank Hannah Diebel, Zachary Fragoso, and Phillip Zivku (Wayne State University) for assistance with data coding.

Notes

¹ Following recommendations of Carlson and Wu (2012), we only sought to include variables as controls when they displayed significant relations with our focal variables and there was theoretical reason to expect them to influence our hypothesized relations. We also assessed organizational tenure as a possible control variable. In our sample, the correlations of organizational tenure with safety motivation, management commitment to safety, civility norms, safety participation, and minor injuries were nonsignificant. However, the correlations of organizational tenure with major injuries and safety compliance were significant. Therefore we re-ran our analyses of both of these variables including organizational tenure as a control variable. Our revised results were identical to our originally attained results in terms of statistical significance (and therefore interpretation as well); therefore, we omitted organizational tenure as a control variable in our analyses and reported results in this paper.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alyssa K. McGonagle

Alyssa K. McGonagle, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She studies worker health, well-being, work ability, and physical safety.

Niambi M. Childress

Niambi M. Childress, M.A. is a doctoral candidate in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Wayne State University. Her major research interests include occupational health issues, as well as biases in selection and performance appraisal contexts.

Benjamin M. Walsh

Benjamin M. Walsh, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Management at the University of Illinois at Springfield. His research centers largely on the interpersonal work environment, with a particular focus on civility and mistreatment in the workplace.

Timothy J. Bauerle

Timothy J. Bauerle, M.A. is a Behavioral Scientist with the Training Research and Development Team in the Human Factors Branch at the Office of Mine Safety and Health Research, an applied research division of the Center for Disease Control. Lately, his research has centered on improving underground coal mine emergency response systems through investigating behavioral components of teamwork among mine rescue teams and self-escape groups.