The Influence of Safety Voice on Hazard Reporting and Organizational Safety Improvement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63544/jbii.v5i5.212Keywords:
Employee Voice, Hazard Reporting, Occupational Safety, Safety Improvement, Safety Management, Safety VoiceAbstract
This study investigated how safety voice affects the reporting of hazards and improvement of organizational safety. Employees' ability to communicate their safety concerns, identify unsafe conditions, report potential hazards, and recommend improved methods to assure a safe work environment are all examples of safety voice. In this study, a quantitative method of social research with a cross-sectional research design was used. The data were gathered from a sample of 300 employees in occupational, operational, technical, and workplace safety-related activities of organizations. Safety voice, hazard reporting, and organizational safety improvement were measured with a structured questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson correlation, and linear regression were used to analyse the collected data. The mean for each finding was: Safety Voice (M = 3.71, SD = 0.74), Hazard Reporting (M = 3.68, SD = 0.77), and Organizational Safety Improvement (M = 3.76, SD = 0.71). The internal consistency of the measurement scales ranged from 0.82 to 0.89 (Cronbach's alpha) and was found to be satisfactory. Safety Voice was found to have a significant positive correlation with Hazard Reporting (r = 0.62, p < .001) and Organizational Safety Improvement (r = 0.58, p < .001). Regression analysis showed that the model of Safety Voice accounted for 38.4% of the variance in Hazard Reporting and 33.6% of the variance in Organizational Safety Improvement. The study found that the promotion of an advocacy culture among employees might be a way to enhance hazard reporting and continuous improvement of the organization's safety.
References
Aktas, E., & Kağnıcıoğlu, C. H. (2023). Factors affecting safety behaviors of aircraft maintenance technicians: A study on civil aviation industry in Turkey. Safety Science, 164, 106146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2023.106146
Alingh, C. W., van Wijngaarden, J. D. H., van de Voorde, K., Paauwe, J., & Huijsman, R. (2019). Speaking up about patient safety concerns: The influence of safety management approaches and climate on nurses' willingness to speak up. BMJ Quality & Safety, 28(1), 39–48. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2017-007163
Amponsah-Tawiah, K., Boateng, A. K., & Tetteh, S. D. (2020). Safety climate and employees' voluntary work behaviours: The moderating role of employees' voice. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 13(6), 561–581. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-05-2019-0078
Bazzoli, A., & Curcuruto, M. (2020). Safety leadership and safety voices: Exploring the mediation role of proactive motivations. Journal of Risk Research, 24(11), 1368–1387. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2020.1863846
Cakir, M. S., Wardman, J. K., & Trautrims, A. (2023). Ethical leadership supports safety voice by increasing risk perception and reducing ethical ambiguity: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic. Risk Analysis, 43(9), 1841–1856. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.14053
Caspi, H., Perlman, Y., & Westreich, S. (2023). Managing near-miss reporting in hospitals: The dynamics between staff members' willingness to report and management's handling of near-miss events. Safety Science, 164, 106147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2023.106147
Curcuruto, M., & Griffin, M. A. (2020). Safety voice in the workplace: A proactive goal-regulation perspective. Safety Science, 131, 104902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2020.104902
Curcuruto, M., & Griffin, M. A. (2023). Upward safety communication in the workplace: How team leaders stimulate employees' voice through empowering and monitoring supervision. Safety Science, 157, 105947. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2022.105947
Curcuruto, M., Strauss, K., Axtell, C., & Griffin, M. A. (2020). Voicing for safety in the workplace: A proactive goal-regulation perspective. Safety Science, 131, 104902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2020.104902
Delpino, R., Lees-Deutsch, L., & Solanki, B. (2023). 'Speaking Up' for patient safety and staff well-being: A qualitative study. BMJ Open Quality, 12(2), e002047. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjq-2022-002047
Dodoo, J. E., Sureinty, L., & Zahidah, S. (2021). Safety citizenship behaviour of miners in Ghana: The effect of hardiness personality disposition and psychological safety. Safety Science, 143, 105404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105404
Galanti, T., Di Fiore, T., Fantinelli, S., & Cortini, M. (2021). The role of organizational support in non-technical dimensions of safety: A case study in the automotive sector. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(5), 2685. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052685
Hu, S., Nadeem, M. A., Luo, J., & Yi, X. (2024). The effects of psychological safety and employee voice behavior on flight attendants' mindful safety practices adoption. Frontiers in Public Health, 12, 1398815. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1398815
Hu, X., & Casey, T. (2021). How and when organization identification promotes safety voice among healthcare professionals. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77(9), 3733–3744. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14868
Inagaki, M., Nagata, T., Odagami, K., Adi, N. P., & Mori, K. (2024). Relationship between a company's adequate response to near-misses and occupational accidents: A 1-year prospective cohort study. Journal of Occupational Health, 66(1), uiae053. https://doi.org/10.1093/joccuh/uiae053
Jones, A., Blake, J., Adams, M., Kelly, D., Mannion, R., & Maben, J. (2021). Interventions promoting employee "speaking-up" within healthcare workplaces: A systematic narrative review of the international literature. Health Policy, 125(3), 375–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2020.12.016
Kane, J., Munn, L., Kane, S. F., & Srulovici, E. (2023). Defining speaking up in the healthcare system: A systematic review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 38, 3406–3413. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-023-08322-0
Kim, A. R. J., Nishino, K., Bujang, M. A., Zulkifli, Z., Inthaphatha, S., & Yamamoto, E. (2024). What inhibits "speaking up" for patient safety among healthcare workers? A cross-sectional study in Malaysia. Human Resources for Health, 22, 35. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-024-00916-x
Lainidi, O., Kheddache Jendeby, M., Montgomery, A., Mouratidis, C., Paitaridou, K., Cook, C., Johnson, J., & Karakasidou, E. (2023). An integrative systematic review of employee silence and voice in healthcare: What are we really measuring? Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1111579. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1111579
Lee, S. E., Dahinten, V. S., Seo, J.-K., Park, I., Lee, M. Y., & Han, H. S. (2023). Patient safety culture and speaking up among health care workers. Asian Nursing Research, 17(1), 30–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anr.2023.01.001
Mathisen, G. E., Einarsen, S., & Mykletun, R. J. (2022). Speaking up about safety concerns in high-risk industries: Correlates of safety voice in the offshore oil rig sector. Safety Science, 145, 105487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105487
Mathisen, G. E., Einarsen, S., & Mykletun, R. J. (2023). Safety voice climate: A psychometric evaluation and validation. Journal of Safety Research, 86, 174–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2023.05.008
Niederhauser, A., & Schwappach, D. L. B. (2022). Speaking up or remaining silent about patient safety concerns in rehabilitation: A cross-sectional survey to assess staff experiences and perceptions. Health Science Reports, 5(3), e631. https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.631
Noort, M. C., Reader, T. W., Gillespie, A., & Martin, R. (2021). The sounds of safety silence: Interventions and temporal patterns unmute unique safety voice content in speech. Safety Science, 140, 105289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105289
Noort, M. C., Reader, T. W., Shorrock, S., & Kirwan, B. (2019). Speaking up to prevent harm: A systematic review of the safety voice literature. Safety Science, 117, 375–387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2019.04.039
Novak, A. (2019). Improving safety through speaking up: An ethical and financial imperative. Journal of Healthcare Risk Management, 39(1), 19–27. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhrm.21360
O'Donovan, R., & McAuliffe, E. (2020). Exploring psychological safety in healthcare teams to inform the development of interventions: Combining observational, survey and interview data. BMC Health Services Research, 20, 810. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-05646-z
Pandolfo, A. M., Reader, T. W., & Gillespie, A. (2025). Safety listening in organizations: An integrated conceptual review. Organizational Psychology Review, 15(1), 93–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/20413866241245276
Reader, T. W., Noort, M. C., Shorrock, S., & Kirwan, B. (2021). Safety voice and safety listening during aviation accidents: Cockpit voice recordings reveal that speaking-up to power is not enough. Safety Science, 139, 105260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105260
Sun, Y., Yang, H., & Qian, C. (2022). Voice endorsement and employee safety voice behavior in construction projects: The mediating role of leader-member exchange. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3374. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063374
Tay, H. H. (2025). Key factors of near miss reporting behaviour at work and the interaction of safety climate: A review based on reciprocal safety model. International Journal of Reliability and Safety, 19(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJRS.2025.143765
Yamamoto, A., Nagata, T., Odagami, K., Adi, N. P., Nagata, M., & Mori, K. (2024). Relationship between companies' responses to near-miss reports and turnover intentions of workers: A nationwide cross-sectional study. Safety and Health at Work, 15(2), 187–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2024.01.004
Zeng, C., Kelly, S., Goke, R., & Diers-Lawson, A. (2024). Employee voice as a means to facilitate organizational safety and crisis preparedness. Communication Quarterly, 72(3), 299–319. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2024.2344760
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Muhammad Waqas , Abdul Hameed

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.