Adcock, John (2015) Employee safety motivation and safety behaviour: How are they related? Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Work-related injury and illness costs the Australian economy over A$60 billion annually, with up to 90% of accidents attributed to human factors. Workplace interventions targeting worker motivations to work more safely have been associated with lower accidents and injuries. Antecedent factors such as organisational safety climate have been associated with increased employee safety motivation and subsequently improved safety behaviours. Better insights into the nature of worker motivations to work safely potentially enable industry to develop, implement and evaluate more effective safety programs. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) considers both the type and level of an individual‟s motivation to perform certain behaviours based on the extent to which the reasons for their motivations are externally or internally oriented. The aim of this study was to understand how management engagement with employees on safety matters is associated with different types of employee safety motivation and their subsequent safety performance behaviours using an SDT framework. A prototype Self-Determined Safety Motivation scale (SDSM), together with self-report measures of worker perceptions of management safety engagement and employee safety behaviour, was used to differentiate motivation safety types in order to investigate the relationship between the safety motivation and safety compliance and participatory behaviours of a sample of Queensland water utility company employees (N = 227). Data collected between July and September 2015 were analysed using Exploratory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling. Amotivated, autonomous and controlled safety motivation types were identified and a significant (p < .001) and direct effects between management safety engagement and employee compliance and participatory safety behaviours was found. Autonomous safety motivation significantly predicted (p < .001) both employee compliance and participatory safety behaviours while controlled safety motivation did not. This study underscores the importance of organisational interventions seeking to EMPLOYEE SAFETY MOTIVATION AND SAFETY BEHAVIOUR v enhance employee autonomous safety motivation, particularly through more effective safety leadership and engagement by managers with their workers.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
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| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Tony Machin |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Aug 2025 01:19 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Aug 2025 01:19 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | safety motivation, safety behaviours, safety climate, Self-Determination Theory |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52100 |
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