Work safety climate. Comparison of selected occupational groups

to put forward hypotheses about the nature of the potential differences and similarities. The aim of the study was to fill the gap existing in this area. The research questions put forward take into account both the differences in the assessment of the safety climate at work, considered globally, and the differences with regard to its individ- ual components, each of its dimensions individually. Question 1. Are there any statistically significant differences between workers belonging to the three occupational groups studied in terms of their global assessment of the safety cli- mate at work safety (i.e. superposition of the distinguished dimensions in the research tool)? Question 2. Are there any statistically significant differences between workers belonging to the three occupational groups studied in terms of their assessment of the individual dimen- sions of the work safety climate: a. employee participation in safety-related matters, b. safe behaviors, c. management engagement, d. modeling and enhancing safe behaviors in the organization, e. risk management in the workplace, f. technical facilities and ergonomics, g. pace of work and fatigue level, h. occupational health and safety training process, i. atmosphere in the workplace, j. organizational policy with regard to occupational health and safety management? Material and methods The research was conducted in the territory of Poland in the period from 2017 to 2019. It was a quantitative survey carried out using questionnaires, filled out by the respondents using the

paper-and-pencil method, with the written consent of the authorized representatives of the working establishments employing the respondents. All study participants gave their consent to participate in the study and received relevant information to give informed consent to par- ticipate. The research was conducted in compliance with the ethical standards in line with the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki. The Institutional Review Board and the Ethics Com- mittee of the Silesian University (Poland) (Reference Number KEUS 31/04/2020/ Human par- ticipants, project title: Work safety climate. Comparison of selected occupational groups) approved the research proposal and the consent procedure. The study involved 2,995 respondents (see S1 Data. Work safety climate.xlsx). Purposive sampling was used, based on criteria related to the respondents being members of one of the three occupational groups distinguished earlier. There were 1,331 respondents working directly on production lines manufacturing various products (ceramic, lighting and food industries), i.e. 44.4% of the total sample, 1,431 respondents (47.8% of the sample) were retail workers (cosmetics, household cleaning products, food products, household appliances), while 233 respondents (7.8% of the sample) were mine rescuers (from the Central Mine Rescue Sta- tion–Centralna Stacja Ratownictwa Go´rniczego S.A. in Bytom, the Mine-Smelter Emergency Rescue Division of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. in Lubań, the Mine Rescue Unit of PGNiG SA–

Division of the Borehole Mining Rescue Station in Krakow). All the research results presented PLOS ONE Work safety climate PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243056 December 14, 2020 5 / 19