Development and validation of safety climate scales for lone workers using truck drivers as exemplar

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop and test the reliability and validity of a new scale designed for measuring safety climate among lone workers, using truck drivers as exemplar. The new scale employs perceived safety priority as the metric of safety climate and a multilevel framework, separating the measurement of organization- and group-level safety climate. The second purpose of this study was to compare the predictive power of generic items with trucking industry-specific ones. Three dimensions for each of the two levels of safety climate were drawn from the results. The organization-level safety climate dimensions were proactive practices, driver safety priority, and supervisory care promotion. The group-level safety climate dimensions were safety promotion, delivery limits, and cell phone disapproval. Predictive validity of both generic and industry-specific items was supported, but the industry-specific items provided a stronger predictive value. Results showed that the scale is a reliable and valid instrument to measure the essential elements of safety climate for truck drivers in the lone working situation.