Development and psychometric evaluation of a safety climate scale for vineyards.

Background: This study aimed to develop a questionnaire-based tool measuring the safety climate in vineyards and to assess its psychometric properties.

Methods: A literature search was conducted to identify the dimensions and items that constitute the safety culture construct in various occupational sectors and to draft a conceptual framework. Content validity appraisal was performed by 16 farm managers or pesticide operators. The resulting preliminary conceptual framework consisted of 9 dimensions and 42 questions. Then, a telephone survey was conducted in the French Aquitaine (Bordeaux) region with 312 vineyard workers. Item-total correlation tests, Cronbach's alpha analysis and a principal component analysis were performed to confirm the unidimensionality of the scale under construction. Structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques were used to verify the model hypothesized from the exploratory analyses and to determine how well it fits the data.

Results: Exploratory analyses resulted initially in a 9-dimension, 20-item safety climate questionnaire. Internal consistency proved good with a Cronbach's alpha equal to 0.81. The SEM approach suggested two dimension groupings for a better fit of the data (7 dimensions operationalized through the same 20 items). Internal model parameters showed that the more influential dimensions of safety climate were Management commitment, Communication and feedback, Rules and practices, and Knowledge (all standardized path coefficients ≥ 0.7).

Conclusions: Owing to its good psychometric properties, we hope this score will help in drawing up relevant interventions aimed at improving safety culture, raising pesticide risk awareness, and hopefully inducing more sustainable practices in the medium-term future.