Assessing child-safe culture and practices in organisational settings: a validation and refinement of Kaufman's Organisational Safety Climate Survey

ABSTRACT

Using an Australian sample of employees (n = 1068) we assessed the psychometric properties of Kaufman’s Organisational Safety Climate Survey and its practical utility for measuring child-safe culture within organisations. The 60-item survey was found to have adequate psychometric properties. Initial factor analyses indicated a unidimensional factor structure, despite the survey being originally conceptualised into four subscales. Cronbach’s α coefficients were .95 for the full survey, with subscales ranging from .65–.94. However, qualitative feedback from respondents indicated that the survey was somewhat laborious and repetitive, with some item ambiguity noted. Refinements to the survey resulted in a 24-item short-form survey. The psychometric properties of the short-form survey were re-assessed. Factor analyses indicated a three-factor solution. Despite a significant reduction in items, internal consistency of the scale was not compromised; reliability of subscales also improved. Validation of this short-form survey as an alternative, time-efficient measure to maximise employee participation and contribution, is recommended.

KEYWORDS:

• Child-safe organisations
• child sexual abuse
• prevention
• validation
• survey

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the expertise and assistance of Alanna Treadwell (Manager, Evaluation Unit, Benevolent Society) who co-ordinated survey administration and data collation for this project. More broadly, we would like to acknowledge employees at the Benevolent Society who participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Nadine McKillop http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3548-5661

Susan Rayment-McHugh http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3341-7801

Notes

1 As this survey was administered to the whole organisation as part of a larger research project involving several vulnerable client groups. As such, original terms “youth” and “young people” were substituted for “client”.