Relationship between occupational accidents and the safety climate of blue-collar workers in the metal industry.

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to reveal the ability of a safety climate assessment to make predictions regarding occupational accidents that occur in a metal sector workplace. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with metal sector workers. Two sub-dimensions, the security climate scale, and an 18-question form, were used for data collection. The Chi-square, 'Student's t-test, and logistic regression tests were used to determine the relationships with occupational accidents. A correlation analysis was applied between the total scale score and its sub-dimensions. Results: The questionnaire was completed by 289 workers (90.1%).  In their current workplace, 28.4% had at least one work accident. The total score of the occupational safety climate was 61.11±6.90, and each unit was observed to increase the occupational safety climate score provided there was a 4.6% (95% CI: 0.6–8.4%) decrease in occupational accident reporting. There is a 1.10 (95% CI: 1.04–1.17) fold rise in reported work injuries for every additional year the workers work in this workplace (p = 0.001). Compared to unmarried people, married people recorded 3.24 times (95% CI 1.02–10.35) more workplace injuries. Conclusion: According to the data, employee safety monitoring mediates the relationship between a safe environment and occupational accidents.