A dual perspective on work stress and its effect on unsafe behaviors: The mediating role of fatigue and the moderating role of safety climate

Work stress has a significant impact on unsafe behaviors. However, there has been limited exploration of the relationship between work stress and unsafe behaviors. The aim of this research was to examine the effect of work stress on unsafe behaviors, while incorporating the mediating effect of fatigue and the moderating role of safety climate. Data were collected from 1224 front-line oil workers in China. The findings showed that work stress had a significant effect on unsafe behaviors, and that fatigue and safety climate played partial mediating and moderating roles in the relationship respectively. In terms of their sub-dimensions, (1) job certainty and job control had positive influences on unsafe behaviors, while only social support was negatively associated with unsafe behaviors. (2) Five sub-dimensions of safety climate moderated the effect of work stress on unsafe behaviors. This research contributes to the study on the mechanism of unsafe behaviors by demonstrating differential effects of work stress, fatigue and safety climate and by considering their combined effects. Measures for reducing unsafe behaviors from the per-spective of work stress and safety climate are discussed.(c) 2022 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.