SafetyInsights.org

Does ‘safety’ work? What is the evidence supporting the stuff we do?

This mini-compendium collects several meta-analyses and systematic reviews surrounding the evidence of safety interventions on performance measures.

Focus is primarily on incident/injury rather than health; nor psychosocial, safety climate & culture, HF/E, or leadership (those will be covered another time).

Also haven’t focused on specific areas like MSD, patient safety, aviation, road, food safety etc.

You might think by this stage of the ‘safety’ race, with thousands of studies and all of the collective experience, we’d have a really good scientific understanding of how effective are our safety practices & interventions.

But, empirically, it’s not so clear (apart from a few specific interventions in select cohorts).

As you’ll see from many of the systematic studies – small sample sizes, weak research or statistical quality, bias and confounding factors, and generally inconsistent or small effect sizes are prevalent across the evidence base.

And this isn’t even considering the statistical challenges of injury frequency measures.

Feel free to shout a coffee if you’d like to support the growth of my site:

FULL-TEXT

https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1234

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1292692/pdf

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10926-024-10186-y

https://www.sjweh.fi/download.php?abstract_id=3775&file_nro=1

Click to access 217785038.pdf

Click to access Workplace-Safety-A-Meta-Analysis-of-the-Roles-of-Person-and-Situation-Factors.pdf

http://www.morgeson.com/downloads/nahrgang_morgeson_hofmann_2011.pdf

Click to access surgical-safety-checklist.pdf

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.827694

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00067

Click to access A_Meta-Analysis_of_Personality_and_Workp20160720-30160-1ggd11d.pdf

https://doi.org/10.3390/su162310195

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK72330/

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=1e90752be3f4d97b3d788becd38235c15cefb25b

Click to access 20210429121919pmWEB18072.pdf

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01608061.2022.2048943

https://doi.org/10.3390/safety9030046

http://eprints.bmsu.ac.ir/2557/1/The%20relationship%20between%20safety%20culture%20and%20safety%20climate%20and%20safety%20performance%20a%20systematic%20review.pdf

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105624

https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032357

Click to access 09e415092cf412b829000000.pdf20151115-68247-4dfip2.pdf

Click to access kqs064.pdf

Click to access Peiro%20et%20al%202020.pdf

https://espace.curtin.edu.au/bitstream/handle/20.500.11937/33248/230951_230951.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/1140/1/012014/meta

Click to access effectiveness-whs-interventions-by-regulators-literature-review.pdf

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-032528

Click to access xr2011002_final.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223545678_The_effectiveness_of_occupational_health_and_safety_management_system_interventions_A_systematic_review

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186874

Click to access 128717.pdf

Click to access Binder1.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317558713_Determinants_of_safety_outcomes_and_performance_A_systematic_literature_review_of_research_in_four_high-risk_industries

https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.7569

http://jbrc.pk/volumes/922.pdf

https://ntnuopen.ntnu.no/ntnu-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2650602/Comparative+analysis+of+safety+management+in+12+construction+projects+%E2%80%93+Postprint.pdf?sequence=1

Click to access Construction-Safety-Management-Systems-and-Methods-of-Safety-Performance-Measurement-A-Review.pdf

https://www.academia.edu/90872621/Examining_Organizational_Cultural_and_Individual_Level_Factors_Related_to_Workplace_Safety_and_Health_A_Systematic_Review_and_Metric_Analysis

https://doi.org/10.3390/safety4010006

https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckae197

https://www.academia.edu/18135686/An_Examination_of_the_Role_of_Personality_in_Work_Accidents_Using_Meta_analysis

https://commons.erau.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=ijaaa

https://scholar.colorado.edu/downloads/1j92g7651#page=27

https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12649

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7511673_Workplace-Based_Return-to-Work_Interventions_A_Systematic_Review_of_the_Quantitative_Literature

Click to access PIIS2214-109X(19)30204-9.pdf

Click to access s12998-016-0113-z.pdf

https://www.sjweh.fi/download.php?abstract_id=3259&file_nro=1

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0004951414602877/pdf?md5=d585ee4b96ca7d2e7a35da5e14f26f29&pid=1-s2.0-S0004951414602877-main.pdf&_valck=1

https://www.academia.edu/26390200/Effectiveness_of_participatory_ergonomic_interventions_on_health_outcomes_A_systematic_review

Click to access iwh_sys_review_pe_effectiveness_2005_0.pdf

https://www.sjweh.fi/download.php?abstract_id=3685&file_nro=1

https://doi.org/10.1093/joccuh/uiae028

Click to access What-do-the-different-ergonomic-interventions-accomplish-in-the-workplace-A-systematic-review.pdf

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2025.104481

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106157

Click to access Safety-Checklist-Briefings-A-Systematic-Review-of-the-Literature.pdf

Click to access Strategies-for-improving-patient-safety-culture-in-hospitals-A-systematic-review.pdf

https://doi.org/10.1093/bjs/znaf041

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/nop2.955

https://www.academia.edu/23977062/A_systematic_review_of_farm_safety_interventions

Click to access emss-52960.pdf

Click to access e217f018e437e228f0e3237739c75c3e4fa4.pdf

Click to access TGG-Research-Reports-100-years-of-Occ-Safety-Research-Hofmann-Burke-Zohar-2017.pdf

Click to access TGG-Research-Reports-100-years-of-Occ-Safety-Research-Hofmann-Burke-Zohar-2017.pdf

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/cl2.1412

Click to access iwh_sys_review_upper_extremity_2008.pdf

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00140139.2023.2176550

Click to access Occupational-Safety-and-Health-Interventions-to-Reduce-Musculoskeletal-Symptoms-in-the-Health-Care-Sector.pdf

https://doi.org/10.7326/M16-0626

Click to access e012555.full.pdf

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ABSTRACTS

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2023.103565

https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001626

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.2012.02064.x

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925753521004343

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2020.104876

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2019.03.026

https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2015.1102176

Meta-analysis of 30 years of management and HR constructs: leadership, culture, climate & structure the strongest predictors

Updating the “Risk Index”: A systematic review and meta-analysis of occupational injuries and work schedule characteristics

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