Measurable Outcomes of Safety Culture in Aviation - A Meta-Analytic Review

Abstract

Verbatim from Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons. Not paraphrased, not summarized.

Though the complimentary concepts of safety culture and safety climate have become increasingly popular over the past three decades, they have only infrequently been central to research designed to examine the empirical relationship between safety culture and safety performance. This tenuous link between culture and safety performance outcomes is especially prevalent in the aviation sector. This study systematically examined the existing literature for empirical evidence and explored the available data via meta-analysis to determine whether safety culture was significantly predictive of safety performance in an aviation operational environment. Although a broad, careful review of the literature was accomplished, the results of the meta-analysis and conclusions to be drawn were limited by the small number of studies in the area of interest that also contained the necessary quantitative data for meta-analysis. Recommendations were made for future work in aviation safety culture in the interest of establishing an empirical link between safety culture and safety performance.

Authors

• Goodheart, Benjamin J. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Smith, MaryJo O. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Keywords

• safety
• culture
• climate
• safety culture
• safety climate
• aviation safety
• meta-analysis
• Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Science and Technology Studies