Organisational culture, frontline supervisory engagement and accountability, as drivers of safety behaviour in a platinum mining organisation

Abstract

Orientation: The mining industry plays a significant role in the South African economy. In 2020, the sector contributed R361.9 billion (7.9%) to the total gross domestic product. With almost half a million employees reporting to work in the South African mining industry each day, a relentless commitment to safety and health compliance is required to manage the inherent risks and hazards associated with the sector.

Research purpose: The objectives of this study sought to contribute to the body of research on organisational culture, frontline supervisory engagement and accountability as levers for enhancing organisational performance and creating sustainable competitive advantage through resilient safety behaviour.

Research approach: Quantitative, confirmatory research methods were used to gain insight into the effect of organisational culture and safety climate on safety behaviour whilst examining the influencing effects of frontline supervisory engagement and accountability on safety behaviour in the process division of a single platinum mining organisation in South Africa.

Main findings: The key findings indicate that the tendency of a supervisor to hold herself and her team accountable is positively correlated with good safety behaviour and is the strongest predictor of safety behaviour when considering safety climate and supervisory engagement and supervisory accountability. Furthermore, safety climate was found to be a significant contributor to safety behaviour.

Practical implications: These results indicate that a significant influence exists between organisational culture, safety climate, supervisory accountability and safety behaviour. Supervisory engagement, although found to be positively correlated, was not a statistically significant predictor of safety behaviour.