The Impact of National Culture and Development Level of Countries on their Occupational Safety Performance

Abstract

National culture is considered as one of the factors affecting occupational safety performance. The present study investigated the effects of the national culture dimensions and development levels of countries on their occupational safety performance. The mean of the fatal occupational injuries (FOI) statistics of 60 countries, the scores of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, and mean schooling years, per capita income, and human development indices (HDI), which represent the countries’ development level, were included in simple regression analysis. The results demonstrated that while national culture has no or a limited effect on occupational safety performance, development level has significant effect. When the countries were grouped as high (HHD) and medium human development (MHD), for HHD countries, a significant effect was determined for Individualism and Power Distance dimensions. The results are expected to make a significant contribution to the efforts aiming to include national culture aspects in the decision-making process related to occupational safety issues.

Keywords

• National Culture
• Development Level
• Occupational Safety Performance
• Hofstede

Ülkelerin ulusal kültür ve gelişmişlik seviyelerinin iş güvenliği performansına etkisi

Abstract

Ulusal kültür, iş güvenliği performansını etkileyen faktörlerden biri olarak kabul edilmektedir. Bu çalışmada, ülkelerin ulusal kültür boyutları ve gelişmişlik düzeylerinin iş güvenliği performanslarına etkileri araştırılmıştır. 60 ülkenin ölümcül iş kazası (FOI) istatistiklerinin ortalaması, Hofstede'nin kültürel boyut puanları ve ülkelerin gelişmişlik düzeyini temsil eden ortalama okullaşma yılları, kişi başına gelir ve insani gelişme endeksleri (İGE) ile basit regresyon analizleri gerçekleştirilmiştir. Sonuçlar, ulusal kültürün iş güvenliği performansı üzerinde hiç etkisi olmadığı veya sınırlı bir etkisi olduğunu gösterirken, gelişmişlik düzeyinin önemli bir etkiye sahip olduğunu göstermiştir. Ülkeler yüksek ve orta insani gelişmişlik ülkeleri olarak gruplandırıldığında, yüksek gelişmişlik düzeyindeki ülkeler için Bireysellik ve Güç Mesafesi boyutları için anlamlı bir etki belirlenmiştir. Sonuçların, ulusal kültür unsurlarını iş güvenliği konularıyla ilgili karar alma sürecine dahil etmeyi amaçlayan çabalara önemli katkı sağlaması beklenmektedir.

Keywords

• Ulusal kültür
• gelişmişlik seviyesi
• iş güvenliği performansı
• Hofstede

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