Liberty Mutual Insurance said it will start offering safety climate surveys to its commercial lines customers so they can learn from employees how safe they believe the workplace actually is. The responses can then be used to help make tweaks or improvements.

The Massachusetts-based multi-line insurer said its Liberty Mutual Safety Climate Survey, to be offered through its risk control services arm, is designed to help companies differentiate between companies’ perception of overall safety culture and employees’ actual measurement of safety. Companies with 100 or more employees can administer the surveys, which produce a measurable employee perception of management’s commitment to safety, and what the actual safety priorities within an organization are.

As well, the survey can help gauge the risk of injury.

How it works: The survey is made of two sets of 16 statements designed to measure employees’ perception of senior management’s and their direct supervisor’s commitment to safety. In responding, employees either agree or disagree with various statements using a Likert scale of one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree).

Liberty Mutual’s risk control services can use the responses to develop action plans.

Why would these surveys matter? Liberty Mutual cited research showing a company can collectively have a strong safety culture. But individual employees’ Safety Climate scores don’t always match an overall strong safety perception. What’s more, Liberty Mutual said, they can vary based on employee tenure.

The Liberty Mutual Research Institute For Safety has been studying the scientific validity of Safety Climate surveys since 2008. Liberty Mutual’s effort is teamed with Dov Zohar, the first to identify safety climate as a quantifiable dimension of organizational safety culture.

James Blaser, service director for Liberty Mutual Risk Control Services, said in prepared remarks that the Safety Climate Surveys can be used to help companies spot ways to make targeted adjustment to safety management systems that can strengthen safety culture over time.

Blaser said Safety Climate surveys are designed for companies with strong safety records seeking further improvements.

Source: Liberty Mutual Insurance