Exploring associations of employee reports on safety climate, disability management and labour management with work characteristics and injury at an Australian poultry meat processing plant

Purpose Work-related injury remains problematic in poultry processing, with limited understanding of the organisational factors associated with work injury in this cohort. The aim of this study is to explore associations of employee reports of three organisational domains: safety climate, disability management and labour management with individual and work characteristics and history of work injury within a poultry meat processing plant in Queensland, Australia. Materials and methods All employees at one large poultry processing plant in Australia were invited to complete a survey about their perceptions on the three organisational domains, their individual and work characteristics, and work injury history. Domain scores were compared against individual characteristics (gender and age) and work characteristics (employment status, role, shift, work zone and employment duration) within the workplace and work injury. Results 311 workers completed the survey, with an analytical sample of 292 respondents after incomplete surveys were removed. Over a third (35%) reported a current or past work-related injury in the last 12 months. Safety climate, disability management and labour management scores were strongly and negatively associated with work injury and positively associated with specific work zones within the meatworks after adjustment for individual and work characteristics. Conclusion Organisational factors of safety climate, disability management and labour management processes appear to be associated with work injury and location of work within this workplace. The role of organisational factors should be considered in future studies examining interventions aimed at addressing work injury