¶ … Supervisor Support and Risk Perception: Their Relationship with Unreported Injuries and near Misses" by Kristy J. Lauver and Scott Lester (2009)
A brief introduction of the article
In this review, Lauver and Lester (2009) provide a comprehensive analysis of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning workplace incidents and near-misses to identify opportunities for improvement. Suggesting that the organizational culture established by the supervisor plays a critical role in the reporting of incidents and near-misses, Lauver and Lester examine the research problem discussed further below.
A statement of the research problem
Although the best way to reduce accidents in the workplace is to prevent them from occurring in the first place, accidents do happen and Lauver and Lester emphasize the need for a timely and efficient near-miss and incident reporting program that tracks when, where, who, how and why in order to prevent the recurrence of these events in the future, a process that is facilitated by active supervisory support. This study was guided by the following hypotheses: H1: Positive employee perceptions of supervisor support for safety will be associated with a decrease in unreported injuries (injuries requiring doctor's attention, first-aid cases) and near misses;
H2: Employee perceptions of a higher injury risk factor in their work environment will be associated with an increase in unreported injuries (injuries requiring doctor's attention and first-aid cases) and near misses; and,
327-328).
3.
A description of research procedures
To determine the relationship between supervisor support for an incident and near-miss reporting program, the supervisors' perception of risk and the numbers of incidents and near-misses that go unreported each year, the authors used a mixed methodology consisting of a critical review of the relevant literature to emphasize the fact that many incidents and near-misses in the workplace go unreported each year, and to emphasize the need for active supervisor involvement to ensure that the need and importance for reporting is communicated organization-wide together with a survey of 464 employees working in eight different organizations in the same Midwestern state. Most (70%) of the respondents were male, 20% reported female but 10% of the respondents did not report their gender. Ages of the respondents ranged from 18 to 70 years with a mean age of 39 years. More than half of the respondents (56%) had high school diplomas or GEDs and just under a third (32%) had an associates degree or higher. Most respondents were white (84%), with 1% each African-American, Asian, and Latino participating but 15% of the respondents not providing their ethnicity. The surveys were Likert-scaled, self-administered paper-and-pencil versions.
The authors grouped their findings…
