Building Safer Workplaces: The Interplay of Safety Culture, Climate, and Performance

Abstract

Workplace safety is a multidimensional outcome shaped by organizational culture, safety climate, policies, and external drivers such as climate change and digitization. Despite decades of regulatory progress, nearly three million workers die annually from work-related injuries and diseases and hundreds of millions sustain non-fatal injuries — a global burden that disproportionately affects vulnerable occupations and low-resource regions. This paper synthesizes recent global data (UN/ILO/WHO/OSHA/EU-OSHA) and peer-reviewed literature to develop an integrative model linking safety culture and climate to safety performance, resilience and organizational outcomes. We identify measurement and intervention gaps, illustrate mechanisms (leadership commitment → climate → behavior → outcomes), examine emerging threats (heat stress, digital hazards, psychosocial risks), and propose a multilevel, evidence-based framework for policymakers, employers and researchers to build safer workplaces. Practical recommendations cover measurement, governance, technology use, worker participation, and financing for prevention. The paper concludes with a research agenda to better quantify causal pathways, cost-effectiveness, and equity impacts of safety interventions.