Problematic internet use and safety behavior: The moderating role of safety climate

the best of our knowledge, no study investigates the role played by safety climate on this rela- tionship, so it can be hypothesized that safety climate can moderate the relationship between PIU and safety behavior. Accordingly, the present study was conducted to assess the effect of PIU on safety behavior. Moreover, the study aimed at assessing the moderating effect of safety climate on the relation- ship between PIU and safety behavior. Accordingly, the study had two hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: PIU is negatively associated with safety behavior, Hypothesis 2: the effect of PIU on safety behavior is moderated by safety climate. Demonstrated in Fig 1 is the hypothetical model of the present study. Material and methods Ethical statement The participation was voluntary and participants were assured that their information remain confidential. First, objectives and methodology of the study were verbally explained to partici- pants and they were verbally asked about their willingness to participate in the study, the ques- tionnaires were distributed among those who agreed to participate. Moreover, the first item of the questionnaires asked about this issue again; "would you like to participate in this study?" and participants that answered yes were included in the study. The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of Abadan university of medical sciences (ethic code: IR. ABADANUMS.REC.1400.079). Participants There are many active underground and surface mines in Iran. Based on some statistics, Iran

is among 15 major mineral-rich countries. Iron ore, copper, zinc, gypsum, molybdenum, and antimony are some important minerals extracted in Iranian mines. Although the industry has not been fully developed, at least half-billion employees are working in this sector directly or indirectly. In this study, employees from an open-pit mining industry located in the east of Fig 1. The hypothetical model. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279767.g001 PLOS ONE Problematic internet use and safety behavior PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279767 December 30, 2022 3 / 13