Safety climate in Pakistani universities’ laboratories: an assessment of individual factors

ABSTRACT

Objectives. Current research aims to identify factors that affect the occupational safety climate in university laboratories despite their perception as low-risk areas compared to industrial environments. Methods. A safety climate survey was conducted in science laboratories across various engineering universities in Pakistan. The survey questionnaire was administered to 406 personnel, and a quantitative method for analysis was selected to examine the socio-demographic variables. A 5-point Likert scale (1 =  strongly disagree to 5 =  strongly agree) was used to perceive responses from participants. Additionally, a scale reliability test was conducted, and multivariate analysis of variance was performed to determine the relationship between selected dependent and independent variables. Results. The study found an overall safety climate score of 3.16 ± 0.55, indicating a moderate to high perception of safety on a scale of 1–5. Parameters such as role in the laboratory, departments/disciplines, accident experience and safety training significantly affected the safety climate score, while gender, age group, duration in university and accident witnessing did not. Conclusion. Upper management involvement, safety communication and direct supervision are crucial for improving the safety climate of university laboratories. The study recommends the consideration of the identified significant safety climate dimensions in laboratory safety policy-making at academic institutes.

KEYWORDS:

• laboratory safety
• safety climate score
• organizational factors
• multivariate analysis of variance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data and research materials

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2023.2298138.

Ethical approval

All individual participants included in the study provided their informed consent. The study protocol was approved by the Chairman of the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Engineering and Technology in Taxila, Pakistan (UET/INDUSTRIAL/2020/259).

Additional information

Funding

The research was part of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan's Funded Project under ‘National Research Program for Universities’ [NRPU Research grant No. 3483].