Linking Safety Knowledge to Safety Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model of Safety Priority, Supervisor Feedback, and Supervisors’ Safety Attitudes

The thousands of deaths and disabilities due to workplace accidents and injuries in the United States each year make occupational safety a significant issue. Occupational safety research has contributed to identifying antecedent factors of safety outcomes by integrating previous and contemporary findings. Despite such integrated safety models, little is known about why and how safety knowledge leads to safety performance and how personal and situational factors interact to promote occupational safety. The present study examines the relationship between workers’ safety knowledge and safety performance, as well as mediating (safety priority) and moderating (supervisor feedback and supervisors’ safety attitudes) variables of these relationships. Data were collected from workers (N=197) and supervisors (N=62) in an oil construction company at two time points. Results indicate general support for this moderated mediation model, demonstrating that workers’ safety priority partially mediated the relationship between safety knowledge and safety performance. Moreover, when workers received more supervisor feedback, the positive effects of safety knowledge on safety performance and safety priority were stronger. When supervisors had positive attitudes toward safety, both the relationship between safety priority and safety performance and the indirect relationship between safety knowledge and safety performance were stronger. Theoretical and practical implications for occupational safety are discussed.