Safety climate in a broad context—what is it, how does it work, and can it be managed?

Since the end of the 1970s, safety has attracted increasing interest as a social construct, in research as in practice. Safety climate research is an example of this trend, but, unfortunately, theoretical ambiguity has delayed the development of a better understanding of this concept. In the last few years, some studies based on clear concept definitions and longitudinal design have, however, contributed to theoretical progress describing the relation of safety climate to other domains, as well as possible mechanisms for its influence on work safety performance. The present paper expands on this development and also, based on recent research findings, speculates on the particular importance of a positive safety climate in the development of safety motivation and interactive safety behavior, and a possible reciprocal relation between these factors.