However, such a contingent reward
perspective on safety behaviour does little to explain the aetiology and role of safety climate
4
in a broader organisational context. In any production work the (at least short term) conflict
between production and safety is continually present. The contingent reward perspective on
safety climate requires that managers, to retain credibility in their demand for safety, should
always prioritise safety in the large variety of work situations in order to clarify to the
employees what type of behaviour is expected and will be rewarded. This is an over
simplification of managers’ work. The challenge for managers is rather to balance these
priorities and still be able to encourage members’ responsibility for safety in the organisation.
To better understand psychological and social processes in relation to safety at work it is
therefore important to investigate how safety climate relates to more generic psychosocial
conditions in the organisation, which was the second aim of the present study. This calls for a
relational rather than an instrumental perspective on safety climate. Theory of social exchange
(Blau, 1986) suggests that if one party in a social interaction acts in a manner that benefits the
other party, a mutual expectation will arise that this behaviour will