Ethical Climates and Workplace Safety Behaviors: An Empirical Investigation

In this article, the important but neglected link between workplace safety-enhancing behavior and ethics is explored. Using data from 237 employees from five manufacturing plants in the Midwest, we investigated how specific local ethical climate types are linked to incidences of injuries and two types of safety-enhancing behaviors: safety compliance and safety participation. It was hypothesized that egoist climates are positively related to injuries and negatively related to safety-enhancing behaviors. In contrast, it is proposed that both benevolent and principled climates have negative relationships with injuries and positive relationships with safety-enhancing behaviors. Results provided support only for our principled climate types while benevolence has the desired negative relationship with injuries. Egoism and benevolence are not related to safety-enhancing behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed. K. Praveen Parboteeah (Ph.D. Washington State University) is an Associate Professor of International Management in the Department of Management, University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. Parboteeah's research interests include international management, ethics, religion and technology and innovation management. He has published articles in numerous acadamic journals including Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Decision Sciences, Small Group Research, Journal of World Business, Management International Review, R&D Management and Journal of Engineering and Technology Management. Edward Andrew Kapp is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Safety & Health at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madision. Prior to his position at UW-Whitewater he worked in government, consulting, and private industry. Currently he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in occupational safety, environmental health & safety management, and environmental and safety law. Dr. Kapp's research is in the area of environmental health & safety management, focusing on the influence of climate and leadership on safety performance.