Safety climate as a predictor of work ability problems in blue-collar workers: prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether safety climate items would be predictive of future physical and mental work ability among blue-collar workers.

METHODS: Blue-collar workers (n=3822) from the Danish Work Environment and Health study replied to questions on safety climate, physical and mental work ability, and health in 2012 and 2014. Using multivariate logistic regression, we estimated the association of number of safety climate items (0-5) in 2012 with physical and mental work ability in 2014. Potential confounders included sex, age, socioeconomic class, occupational group, lifestyle (smoking habits and body mass index) and previous accidents.

RESULTS: In the fully adjusted model, workers reporting two and three or more safety climate problems (reference: 0) had higher risk for reduced physical work ability at follow-up (OR 1.29 [95% CI 1.03 to 1.61] and OR 1.52 [95% CI 1.27 to 1.84], respectively). Similar outcomes were observed for mental work ability. Using number of safety climate items as a continuous variable, a doseresponse association existed both for physical and mental work ability (trend-test <0.0001).

CONCLUSION: A dose-response association between the number of safety climate items at baseline and lower physical and mental work ability was detected after 2 years. Safety climate items should be highly prioritised in blue-collar companies.