The Relationships between Organizational and Individual Variables to On-the-Job Driver Accidents and Accident-Free Kilometers

Abstract

Organizational factors and driver behaviors that contributed to on-the-job accidents in a large Western Canadian corporation were examined. A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used which allows researchers to test a complex set of relationships within a global theoretical framework. A number of scales were used to assess organizational support, driver adaptations, and driver behaviors. The sample of professional drivers that participated allowed us to record on-the-job accidents and accident-free kilometers from their personnel files. The pattern of relationships in the final model provides insight into the role of planning, environmental adaptations, fatigue, speed, errors, and moving citations to on-the-job accidents, and accident-free kilometers. Research and practical implications are briefly discussed.

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