Validating a coworker scale in a multilevel safety climate context

The psychometric properties of a safety climate survey were assessed, which included scales measuring coworker, supervisor, and manager commitment to safety. A sample of 515 employees from an oil and gas company completed the survey so that cross-sectional associations between the three safety climate scales and other relevant variables could be ascertained. The results indicated that each scale had sufficient factorial validity, as evidenced by the superior fit indices of a correlated four-factor model. Criterion validity was also demonstrated, with scores on each scale significantly correlating with the number of near misses (p <.05), safety compliance (p <.01), and safety participation (p <.01). The scale's internal consistency reliability, construct reliability, and discriminatory capacity were also demonstrated to be acceptable. Though the results are tentative, this study provides further evidence of the importance of supervisor and manager commitment to safety, and suggests that coworker commitment to safety is a viable dimension of safety climate that is deserving of further investigation.