Todd D Smith1. 1. Indiana University School of Public Health - Bloomington, Department of Applied Health Science, Bloomington, Indiana.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: This research aims to provide guidance on means to bolster safe and effective emergency response. Safe and effective performance among firefighters is key to protecting firefighters, to ensure mission completion, and to protect the public during emergency response situations. Although some studies have shown the impact of safety climate on firefighter performance, few studies have explored the impact of safety climate on affective organizational commitment and safety behaviors among firefighters, which are critical to more effective emergency response. METHODS: Data collected from 349 career firefighters in the southern United States were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling to assess posited relationships in the proposed model. RESULTS: This study confirmed a model that describes the relationships between safety climate, affective organizational commitment, and safety behaviors. Safety climate significantly predicted affective organizational commitment (P < 0.001) and affective organizational commitment was positively associated with both safety compliance (P < 0.001) and safety participation (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study has implications for researchers and practitioners. Firefighters exhibit positive affective organizational commitment as a result of positive safety climate perceptions. This commitment is then associated with positive safety behavior outcomes, which bolsters personal safety and enhances the likelihood of safe and effective mission completion to protect the public.
OBJECTIVES: This research aims to provide guidance on means to bolster safe and effective emergency response. Safe and effective performance among firefighters is key to protecting firefighters, to ensure mission completion, and to protect the public during emergency response situations. Although some studies have shown the impact of safety climate on firefighter performance, few studies have explored the impact of safety climate on affective organizational commitment and safety behaviors among firefighters, which are critical to more effective emergency response. METHODS: Data collected from 349 career firefighters in the southern United States were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling to assess posited relationships in the proposed model. RESULTS: This study confirmed a model that describes the relationships between safety climate, affective organizational commitment, and safety behaviors. Safety climate significantly predicted affective organizational commitment (P < 0.001) and affective organizational commitment was positively associated with both safety compliance (P < 0.001) and safety participation (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study has implications for researchers and practitioners. Firefighters exhibit positive affective organizational commitment as a result of positive safety climate perceptions. This commitment is then associated with positive safety behavior outcomes, which bolsters personal safety and enhances the likelihood of safe and effective mission completion to protect the public.