Size matters: How safety climate and downstream outcomes vary by fire department organization type

Abstract

Background Safety climate is an upstream predictor of safety behaviors (e.g., safety compliance), organizational outcomes (e.g., burnout, engagement), and safety outcomes (e.g., injuries). The Fire Service Organizational Culture of Safety (FOCUS) survey, which was psychometrically validated, measures the industry-specific safety climate of the US fire and rescue service. It is expressed by two factors, Management Commitment to Safety and Supervisor Support for Safety. Methods The FOCUS beta-test included a random sample of 132 fire departments stratified by Federal Emergency Management Agency region and organization type (career, combination, volunteer). We conducted descriptive analysis with the responses from 8414 firefighters nested within 611 stations in 125 fire departments. We reported descriptive statistics to assess the distribution of all continuous [mean ± standard deviation (SD)] and categorical variables (counts, percentages) stratified by organization type. Regression analyses were conducted to investigate the associations between safety climate, safety behaviors, organizational outcomes, and safety outcomes stratified by organization type. Results The mean age of the analytic sample was 40.2 years, and the mean years of experience was 16.1 years. This sample included 53.6% career, 27.2% combination (career and volunteer), and 19.2% volunteer fire departments. The mean Management Commitment score was 71.4 (SD = ± 10.4), and the mean Supervisor Support score was 81.7 (± 5.2). The mean Management Commitment scores were 67.1 (± 8.4), 72.2 (± 10.7), and 82.1 (± 6.1), respectively, for career, combination, and volunteer fire departments. The mean Supervisor Support scores were not notably different by organization type. Regression analyses generally supported the beneficial role of safety climate, while suggesting organization type as a potential effect modifier. Specifically, we observed a more negative association between Management Commitment as departments became more career. Conclusions Analysis of nationally representative data from the US fire and rescue service indicates safety climate is positively associated with safety behavior, organizational outcomes, and safety outcomes reflecting employee well-being. The findings also suggest that this association varies by organization type. In fact, a dose–response relationship was observed, with Management Commitment to safety lowest among career departments. Thus, our results suggest that it is not just being busy that decreases Management Commitment.

Assessing the Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on US Fire-Based Emergency Medical Services Responders

“…The size of the department has been shown to modify the associations between safety climate and its subsequent outcomes, like safety behaviors and organizational outcomes, with safety climate generally being lower among career departments. 27 Consistent with the results found in our study, Srikanth et al 28 found that 23.8% of EMS providers were considering leaving the profession within 6 months. However, the study was only inclusive of a small sample from Puget Sound, Washington.…”

“…These attributes may be skewing the results more positively among the FOCUS sample. Previous work by Geczik et al 27 showed that the size and organization type of a department impact Management Commitment to Safety scores (ie, the larger a department, the lower the score), but not Supervisor Support for Safety scores. The RAPID study affirms Geczik et al observing that Supervisor Support for Safety scores were similar between the samples and within the “maintenance zone”.…”

“…This indicated that even during an incredibly stressful period, station-level officers were able to strongly convey their support for safe work. The size of the department has been shown to modify the associations between safety climate and its subsequent outcomes, like safety behaviors and organizational outcomes, with safety climate generally being lower among career departments 27 …”

“…The size of the department has been shown to modify the associations between safety climate and its subsequent outcomes, like safety behaviors and organizational outcomes, with safety climate generally being lower among career departments. 27 …”

An updated analysis of safety climate and downstream outcomes in two convenience samples of U.S. fire departments (FOCUS 1.0 and 2.0 survey waves)

“…FOCUS Supervisor Support for Safety refers to members' belief that their supervisors (company officers) value their safety based on communication, encouragement, and consequences (Taylor et al 2019 ). A recent analysis of the FOCUS beta-test survey wave, a geographically stratified random sample, identified that the mean Management Commitment to Safety scores for career fire departments were lower compared to combination and volunteer departments, however a similar variation for mean Supervisor Support for Safety scores were not observed (Geczik et al 2022 ). Safety behavior refers to the types of behaviors of workers that contribute to safety in the fire department, such as using the correct safety equipment (Neal and Griffin 2002 ).…”