The mediating role of safety management practices in process safety culture in the Chinese oil industry

摘要

Developing positive process safety culture is necessary for accident prevention in organizations with complex technological systems. Both governments and industries have issued regulations and documents to require and help companies establish safety culture in Chinese process industries. However, this has not developed as expected, and barriers make process safety culture remain in the realm of paperwork rather than actual practice. Safety management practices are considered solutions to address these barriers. This paper identifies the key safety management practices from previous research and then establishes a model to explore the mediating role of safety management practices in the development of process safety culture. A total of 405 participants from the oil industry in Shandong province participated in the survey. The data were processed by SPSS 24.0, and the model was estimated by structural equation model (SEM). Four safety management practices were identified in academic research and industrial practice, including organizing responsibilities/procedures, communication and coordination, safety training, and inspection and monitoring. All four safety management practices have positive mediating effects on safety culture, with inspection and monitoring presenting the highest mediating effect. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. A new view is provided for the oil industry and other process industries in China to suggest that safety management practices can be treated more earnestly.