Factors affecting safety behaviors of aircraft maintenance technicians: A study on Civil Aviation Industry in Turkey

Research over the years has drawn attention to the role of safety behaviors in determining safety outcomes. A good understanding of the predictors of safety behaviors is important for improving safety performance. Therefore, this study investigated factors affecting safety behaviors of aircraft maintenance technicians (AMTs). The effects of safety leadership and safety climate, which are considered as the main antecedents of safety behaviors, on safety compliance and safety citizenship behaviors were examined. Data was gathered from 359 AMTs employed in Turkish Civil Aviation industry through a questionnaire. The relationship between variables was tested by regression and path analysis. The results indicated that safety leadership and safety climate predict safety behaviors of AMTs. In addition, safety climate partially mediated the effects of safety leadership on safety behaviors. Furthermore, the whistleblowing dimension, which indicates to what extent maintenance teaminduced unsafe acts is reported by AMTs, scored lower than expected. Group cohesion and collective nature of culture are considered as the causes of this underreporting problem and control practices of maintenance managers are suggested as a solution. Furthermore, controlling dimension of safety leadership is suggested for development of assertive safety behaviors among AMTs, which means acting in favor of safety without compromise. Lastly, considering the positive impact of the safety climate on various categories of safety behaviors, its role in building a high reliability organization for aircraft maintenance is highlighted.

Automated summary

Research has shown that safety behaviors play an important role in determining safety outcomes. Understanding the factors that predict safety behaviors is crucial for improving safety performance. This study examined the effects of safety leadership and safety climate on the safety behaviors of aircraft maintenance technicians. The results showed that both safety leadership and safety climate significantly predicted safety behaviors, and safety climate partially mediated the effects of safety leadership on safety behaviors. There was also a lower than expected reporting of unsafe acts by maintenance technicians, which was attributed to factors such as group cohesion and cultural influences.