A path analysis model of individual variables predicting safety behavior and human error: The mediating effect of situation awareness

Situation awareness is often argued to be an indicator of safety performance. Several factors may influence situation awareness that need to be identified and analyzed. This study investigated the influence of some variables on safety performance and examined the mediating effect of situation awareness. This study was conducted on 601 workers of different industries in Iran. All variables were measured via a multi-sectional questionnaire in a self-report manner. Path analysis modeling was used for data analysis. To measure the validity of the model, the RMSEA, CFI, and R2 coefficients were employed. The results revealed that safety knowledge and sleepiness had significant direct and indirect effects on safety behavior and human error. Fatigue had only a mediating effect on safety behavior and error via situation awareness. Safety locus of control had only a mediating effect on human error through situation awareness. Whereas better safety knowledge and an internal safety locus of control could boost siaituation awareness, daily sleepiness and fatigue had significant, detrimental effects on situation awareness. These variables explained 38% of the variations in situation awareness. A proportion of the effect of personal variables on safety behavior and human error was mediated by situation awareness; thus, situation awareness is the direct cause of some safe behaviors and human errors.

Automated summary

This study examined the influence of variables on safety performance, with a focus on the mediating effect of situation awareness. The results showed that safety knowledge, sleepiness, and fatigue had significant effects on safety behavior and human error, while safety locus of control only mediated human error through situation awareness. Better safety knowledge and an internal safety locus of control were found to enhance situation awareness, while daily sleepiness and fatigue had detrimental effects on it. This study highlights the importance of situation awareness in influencing safe behaviors and human errors.