On Research: Host employers’ influence on contractor safety

How much can host employers affect the safety behaviors of their onsite contractors? That’s one of the main questions Jin Lee and his colleagues sought to answer in a recently published study.

Lee is an associate professor in Kansas State University’s Psychological Sciences Department. He spoke with Safety+Health about “Beyond boundaries: The mechanisms by which host organizations’ safety climates impact on-site contractors’ safety and retention.” 

The study was published in Volume 90 of the National Safety Council’s Journal of Safety Research.

The following is an edited transcript.

What’s your study about?

The study examines how host organizations’ safety climate influences safety, attitudes, turnover, retention and injury outcomes of onsite contractor employees in the high-risk petrochemical industry.

Using multi-level structure equation modeling, it explores how the safety climate of host organizations extends to contractor organizations and shapes their overall safety performance.

What drove your interest in this topic?

Onsite contract workers often fall under the broader category of contingent or nonstandard employment. There are growing concerns over safety risks for onsite contractors in high-risk industries.

The lack of research on how host organizations influence onsite contractors’ worker safety sparked my interest.

What are the biggest takeaways from this study?

Host organizations play a crucial role in shaping the safety climate for their onsite contractors. By fostering a positive safety climate, host organizations not only improve their own safety outcomes, but also influence contractor employee safety behavior and job attitude. Leading by example is a key way for host organizations to ensure the safety of their onsite workforce.

Any plans for a follow-up study?

We’re investigating the changes in the safety climate in the petrochemical industry in South Korea. Hopefully, we can have more data points from more participating organizations, including host organizations and contractor organizations, to replicate the findings.

Also, future research may use longitudinal designs to establish causal relationships and explore how safety climate evolves over time. And expanding the study to different industries and countries would also enhance generalizability.

Additionally, investigating conditions that foster the dissemination of safety climate across interconnected organizations, such as mutual trust and shared identity, would be valuable areas for future exploration.

The Journal of Safety Research, a joint publication of the National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd., disseminates peer-reviewed research in all areas of safety and health. Learn more.