The Effect of Risk Management System and Safety Culture on the Safety Behavior of Care Workers in Long-term Care Facilities

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of risk management system and safety culture in long-term care facilities on care workers’ safety behavior, and to analyze the sub-factors of their safety culture. A multilevel analysis was conducted to find out the degree of influence of risk management system (which is a variable of facility level) and safety culture (which is a variable of individual level) on their individual safety behavior. The results from analysis shows that firstly, risk management system did not have a significant effect on safety behavior. Secondly, it was found that the effect of care workers on safety behavior had a greater safety culture variable than risk management system had on safety behavior. Thirdly, team work (+), overall perceptions of resident safety (+), feedback and communication about incidents (+), training and skills (+), and supervisor expectations and actions promoting resident safety (-) were significant factors of safety culture influencing safety behavior. The results of study indicates that although risk management system is important for accident prevention in long-term care facilities, establishing safety culture within care facilities must be given priority.