Perceived levels of management safety empowerment and justice among Australian employers

This report from Safe Work Australia presents the results of the Perceptions of Work Health and Safety Survey 2012 on how well Australian employers think they manage work health and safety in their businesses.

Key results include:

• Most employers (80–90%) perceived they performed management safety empowerment behaviours frequently in their businesses, including consultation, fostering a safe environment and ensuring workers have a high level of competence regarding safety.
• Around 75% of employers perceived they demonstrated management safety justice behaviours frequently in their business, such as listening carefully to everyone involved in an accident and looking for causes of incidents, not guilty persons.
• Small business employers were generally less likely to perceive that they exhibited management safety empowerment and justice in their workplaces.

The research also found a proportion of employers indicated they did not display management safety empowerment or justice frequently in their workplaces (around 20% and 25% of employers, respectively).