Safety culture as competitive advantage for slovenian natural health resorts

BACKGROUND: Many studies are focused on safety culture. There is no study on employees’ perceptions of safety culture in natural health resorts. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the concept of safety culture from the perspective of the employees in natural health resorts in Slovenia. METHODS: The survey was administered to a sample of 268 employees in six Slovenian natural health resorts to measure the attitudes, practices/behaviors, knowledge, and training of employees. RESULTS: The results of the survey did not show a statistical correlation between the employees’ safety attitudes and their age, their level of education and their position within the organization. However, this study revealed significant differences in understanding of the safety measures and selected safety attitudes across six resorts. Similarly, the study revealed significant differences in knowledge and understanding of the safety protocols across six resorts. The results are reflecting higher management safety awareness in selected resorts what could result in an important competitive advantage for a selected organization. CONCLUSIONS: The research provides an in-depth insight into the concept of safety culture, presented through the attitudes, practices/behaviors, knowledge, and training of employees in natural health resorts in Slovenia. Findings contribute to the development of conceptual knowledge in safety science.