Analysis of safety climate effect on individual safety consciousness creation and safety behaviour improvement in shipping operations

Unsafe acts of ship officers have been a direct cause of many maritime accidents. In the maritime industry, much effort has been made to prevent unsafe acts and to improve safe behaviours of ship officers. The positive effect of organizational safety climate on human behaviour has been well documented in the literature. Within this context, this paper aims to pioneer the development of the measurement constructs of safety climate in shipping operations and analyze its impact on safety consciousness and behaviour of ship officers. Using primary data collected from 284 deck officers and captains, an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation model are used to reveal the relationship among the constructs of safety climate, safety consciousness and safety behaviour. The research results show that (1) safety climate generates a direct positive effect on safety consciousness and behaviour; (2) safety consciousness has a positive effect on safety behaviour; and (3) safety consciousness acts as a mediator between safety climate and safety behaviour. Its managerial implications and practical contributions lie in the provision of useful insights on how ship managers can effectively gain the improved safety behaviours of ship officers by appropriate introduction of safety climate and consciousness.