Safety Culture and Safety Behaviors Among Firefighters

The purpose of this study was to investigate the safety culture and safety behaviors of metropolitan professional firefighters. A validated and reliable safety culture survey was used to assess the safety culture of a metropolitan fire department. A safety behavioral checklist was created and used to assess the safety behaviors of professional fire fighters. The sample for the study included 156 firefighters from a metropolitan fire department in North Carolina. A Pearson correlation was used to determine if there was a significant relationship between safety culture and safety behaviors. ANOVA and t-tests were used to determine if significant differences existed in safety culture and/or safety behavior on selected demographic factors. Data analysis revealed a significant correlation between safety culture and safety behavior. Results indicated the more positive safety culture is viewed, the more likely the firefighter is to practice safe behaviors. Findings also indicate that demographic factors such as education, marital status, work experience, and dependent status have no significance on how firefighters view safety culture and on the safety behaviors of firefighters. Data analysis did indicate a marginal significance in safety culture by participants who reported being moderately or severely injured ‘on the job’.