The Development of Safety Behavior: A 30-Year Review

Abstract

In the area of safety at work, safety behavior is becoming a significant concern. Safety behavior is often used interchangeably with safety outcomes, whether positive or negative; the latter being represented by accidents and the financial losses that they entail. Several investigations have tried to reveal a connection between safety policy and safety behavior. Safety behavior is a demonstration of safety policy and the processes employed to avoid adverse safety implications. Traditionally, employees have observed safety processes that follow the safety policy. Recently, however, employees have become effective agents of that policy, by suggesting general enhancements of organizational safety. This modern approach relies strongly on the behavior, awareness, and understanding of employee safety. This standpoint then contributes to another element that scrutinizes a bottom-up strategy to enhance workplace safety. The bottom-up strategy is seen as more versatile but calls for a certain amount of autonomy and emotional ability. With this approach, the obligation to maintain workplace safety is effectively delegated to both employees and workers, each playing a significant role. In this paper, we will demonstrate the relationship between climate and safety behavior. Also, we will discuss the evolution of traditional safety behavior towards the current level of safety participation and proactive safety behavior.