Developing a psychometric scale to measure organisation’s safety climate

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a non-specific industry psychometric instrument to measure occupational safety climate in organisations. The objectives were to identify and select factors/dimensions considered fundamental in predicting organisations’ safety climate; generate items for selected factors; determine the reliability and validity of the instrument developed; and establish the normative values for the application of the instrument. Flowing from the objectives, one major research question was posed, and one hypothesis postulated. Stage one of the study was used for items generation and factors determination, while stage two established the reliability and validity of the instrument as well as its normative psychometric values for its application in organisations. Using convenience and stratified sampling techniques, a total of 540 (304 males and 236 females) participants were selected for the study. The psychometric properties of the instrument were obtained having subjected the participant’s scores to factor analysis and concurrent validation respectively. The study results indicated that Dimension of Occupational Safety Climate Inventory–5 (DOSCI-5), with its five dimensions and 57 items, is valid and reliable in measuring organisations’ safety climate.

Keywords: Occupational safety, dimensions, psychometric scale, reliability, validity