How is safety climate formed? A meta-analysis of the antecedents of safety climate

Abstract

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to provide a comprehensive quantitative review of research to date on the antecedents of psychological and organizational safety climate. Building upon and expanding Zohar’s conceptual model, antecedents were organized into three broad categories: situational factors, interpersonal interactions, and personal factors. Data were gleaned from 136 primary studies to calculate effect sizes for 38 antecedents and the relative importance of each antecedent within the three categories. Antecedent effect sizes were generally homologous for psychological and organizational safety climate, with the strongest effect sizes for interpersonal interactions followed by organizational climate and leadership. The magnitude of the safety climate antecedent effect sizes tended to be stronger in health-care industry studies and varied inconsistently as a function of the industry-specific nature of the safety climate measure. This meta-analysis provides a much needed summary of the research to date in an effort to guide future research and practice on the development and improvement of safety climate in organizations.