safety cultural assessment among management, supervisory and worker groups in a tar refinery plant

background: this study investigated the relationship between people's attitudes towards the safety culture and comparing its perceptions among three levels of refinery personnel: top management, supervisory staff and frontline workers by conducting safety culture survey. methods: a questionnaire comprising general information and 59-safety attitude statement were distributed among 237 workers, 53 supervisors and 12 managers in isfahan tar refinery in iran. results: the 10 testable factors, including organizational and management commitment to safety and communication, rule breaking, training and competence, pressure for production and safety, communication, personal involvement in health and safety, accident/incidents/near misses, organizational/management commitment to health and safety, supervisors/immediate bosses/line managers, health and safety procedures/instructions/rules, workforce view on state of safety culture, have high inter-correlations and the three groups of respondents hold quite different attitudes regarding safety culture. conclusion: these findings can give invaluable indication to the managers to have better understanding of safety culture in this industry.