Relationships among Perceived Control, Safety Attitude, and Safety Performance: A Case Study on Wastewater Treatment Plant Workers

Abstract

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are an indispensable part of the infrastructure of modern cities. However, because of the existence of many confined working spaces in them, they also pose significant risks of occupational hazards for workers. Therefore, this study was conducted on WWTP workers in Kaohsiung, Taiwan to explore the connections among the perceived control, safety attitude, and safety performance of WWTP workers. In total, 123 valid questionnaires were returned for descriptive statistical analysis, variance analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. According to the analysis results, the WWTP workers in this study indicated a mid to high level of perceived control, and they generally believed they were also responsible for industrial safety management. The variance analysis results showed that workers of a different gender, age, service unit, and seniority had significantly different safety attitudes. The hierarchical regression analysis results indicated that the perceived control of the WWTP workers had a significant influence on their safety performance through their safety attitude, which served as a mediator between perceived control and safety performance. It is hoped that these findings can provide references for WWTP managers and workers in their daily communication, operation, and safety management system introduction to ensure better safety.