A qualitative and quantitative examination of factors underlying safety climate

The assessment of safety climate in the workplace has been a recurring research topic over the last four decades. Often assessed through the collection of Likert-scaled survey instrument data and subsequent data analysis, previous research studies have indicated that there are potentially a number of latent factors which account for safety climate perceptions of the studied population that may not be revealed through survey data collection. Lacking in the body of research is a mixed-methods approach that can substantiate the level of influence these identified factors have on safety climate perceptions. The research in this dissertation sought to identify factors influencing safety climate, and combined with additional data collection in the form of personal narratives, these identified factors were examined to determine the degree by which the identified factors influence and characterize personal and group safety climate perceptions. This was accomplished through use of a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach to the research question, which allows for continual data collection as well as proceeding with research without the need to formulate a testable hypothesis before investigation begins