Promoting safety performance in safety-critical organizations: unleashing the potential of psychological capital

Objectives. Despite the implementation of various interventions in safety-critical organizations (SCOs), occupational accidents and injuries remain persistently frequent in industrialized countries. Consequently, promoting occupational safety continues to pose a major challenge in the field of occupational health and safety (OHS). This time-lagged study investigates the potential of psychological capital (PsyCap)–a higher-order construct comprising self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience–to directly enhance workers’ safety performance (i.e., safety compliance and safety participation) and indirectly through the mediation of safety knowledge and safety motivation. Methods. The research involved 134 workers (93.3% male) from Italian SCOs who completed three questionnaires. The data were analysed via path analysis. Results. The results highlight the pivotal role of PsyCap in improving safety compliance and safety participation over time, both directly and indirectly through safety knowledge but not through safety motivation. Conclusion. These findings highlight PsyCap as a crucial positive personal resource for shaping safety behaviours in SCOs. The results suggest opportunities to develop innovative OHS training programmes that enhance PsyCap within these organizations.