Dr. Emily (Yueng-hsiang) Huang’s Safety Climate Lab

The Safety Climate Lab members — Emily (Yueng-hsiang) Huang’s research team, top row L to R: Yimin He, Theodore K. Courtney, Emily (Yueng-hsiang) Huang, W. Kent Anger, Jin Lee; middle row L to R: Frank Giordano, Cassandra Chlevin; bottom row L to R: Peg Rothwell, Nicholas Chiu, Bailey Lytle, Kali Kuhn, Tsukumi Tondokoro

Safety Climate: A leading safety indicator – backed by science

Our Mission: Ensuring safety, health, well-being, and respectful experiences for all individuals through the promotion of good organizational culture and climate in the workplace.

SafetyClimate@ohsu.edu

View Dr. Emily (Yueng-hsiang) Huang’s Faculty Profile

View Dr. Emily (Yueng-hsiang) Huang’s Safety Climate Lab Consulting and Research Opportunities

View Dr. Emily Huang's Safety Climate Lab and OccHealthSci’s LinkedIn Pages

Download our “A Multi-Climate Profile Score to Measure Total Worker Health® Climate” research one-pager

Download our "COVID-19 Safety Climate Assessment" consulting one-pager

Background

In recent years, safety climate has captured the attention of companies and scientists looking to reduce accidents and injuries. As a leading indicator of safety outcomes, safety climate reflects what happens when the rubber (safety decisions and protocols) meets the road (competing demands such as production and delivery deadlines). Safety climate can be seen as an organization’s temporal “state of safety,” a snapshot of the prevailing state of safety within the organization at a discrete point in time. Our lab has extended the utility of climate snapshots to also serve as indicators of the prioritization of health, well-being, and respect in an organization.

The Safety Climate Lab and Fortis Construction Inc.

Organizational safety climate and organizational safety culture are related, but distinctly different, phenomena. Safety climate is defined in the scientific literature as employees’ shared perceptions of the organization’s workplace safety policies, procedures, and practices as they relate to the value and importance of safety within the organization. Safety culture is defined as shared safety values and beliefs that interact with an organization’s structures and control systems to produce behavioral norms. Safety climate is the measurable aspect of safety culture and research indicates these measures can be used to predict safety-related outcomes (e.g., accidents and injuries) and safety behavior.

Despite what looks like a strong emphasis on safety, a company may have a poor safety climate. That means that even in organizations that have implemented safety programs and protocols, when business demands are high, safety may take a backseat to other priorities such as productivity and efficiency.

Risk managers can assess safety at a company by surveying workers about management’s commitment to and support of safety and health.

Safety climate is a leading indicator of safety outcomes and is the measurable dimension of organizational safety culture.

Companies that understand and monitor safety climate can identify where problems may lie and take appropriate steps to proactively improve safety.

Safety climate can help companies recognize and address emerging problems before accidents happen.

Practical application of the safety climate survey can help companies identify ways to make focused adjustments to safety management systems that, over time, can strengthen their safety culture.

Fortis Construction Inc.

Letter from Demetra Star of Fortis Construction Inc. to Fellow Contractors

Demetra Star, Safety Team Leader, Fortis Construction, Inc.

"The safety climate lab provides a snapshot in time from the worker’s perspective. I can’t think of a better way to provide meaningful feedback to a safety program in the works. The survey is anonymous and the report from OHSU Safety Climate Lab is comprehensive. It was refreshing to hear from the objective observers at OHSU just how healthy our safety climate is and it was inspiring to hear the actions and plans that the study generated at Fortis Construction. I’d recommend that any company, no matter what size and no matter what level of safety maturity, measure their safety climate with the OHSU team. They are the experts and they draw from a wealth of data that most of us don’t have access to. It will help your company. Be brave ...listen to the findings, and take action."

United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC)

Daniel Hardy, Road Safety Portfolio Manager, United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC)

"We have focused for too long on trying to train the driver to be safer, without considering the crucial impact of the safety climate. What I like about the safety climate approach is that it is a quantitative, peer-reviewed approach that allows for a baseline from which to measure impact. It also supports the development of targeted interventions, beyond traditional training and awareness campaigns. I very much enjoyed working with the team at OHSU, who are dedicated, professional and client-centred. Highly recommended."

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Roy Ben Eliezer, Global Road Safety Coordinator, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

“Addressing road safety in large organizations, often times requires a number of approaches to be taken under consideration in order to evaluate the overall safety landscape and identify additional safety elements that may require further attention. The Safety Climate Survey, used as a methodological tool, has definitely enabled us to have this additional perspective, to better address road safety and safety measures, while collaborating with our colleagues in the field within this process. The OHSU team have shown remarkable dedication, professionalism, and were very committed at any given point throughout the whole process. I would definitely encourage anyone who’s looking to implement a safety climate survey within their organization, to contact the OHSU team. It was great working with them!”

Whitaker/Ellis Builders, Inc.

Bill Ellis, President Whitaker/Ellis Builders, Inc.

“We appreciate the information and presentation. You and your team did a great job! We enjoyed working with you and I can see how your team makes significant impacts for workplace safety.”

Brandon Sirois, Vice President Whitaker/Ellis Builders, Inc.

“The safety climate survey and evaluation was a great experience and very insightful for us. The survey let us have a better grasp on where we could use improvement. It also informed us on where we are doing good. I would highly recommend reaching out to them.”

DeWitt Construction

Dale Lindstrom - PE, CPCU, ARM, Risk and Safety Manager

"DeWitt Construction has been on a journey the past three years to improve the safety awareness and culture of the company through the use of safety perception surveys and industry safety recognition such as the AGC-PRIDE designation. In 2020, DeWitt partnered with OHSU's Safety Climate Lab Research Team to draw from their data and analytics to evaluate DeWitt employee's perception of the company's safety efforts compared to other companies. The anonymous survey responses when evaluated and tabulated by the OHSU Research Team provided valuable insights into what DeWitt is doing well and areas for improvement. DeWitt thanks the OHSU's Safety Climate Lab personnel for their time and assistance."

Anonymous Testimonials

XXXXXXXX, VP Safety & General Counsel

“We also enjoyed meeting with you and learning the results of your research. The information will prove invaluable in the future development of safety culture...we look forward to working with you further. Please don’t hesitate to call if the opportunity arises to work together in the future.”

XXXXXXXX, Director Driver Training

“The experience was far better than we imagined. It was a true pleasure working with you and your team. The benefits of the study will provide many helpful insights for months to come…actually using some of the results in a training piece I am putting together…Hope to have future opportunities to work together again.”

XXXXXXXX, VP Safety

“Glad we could participate. I would like to thank you, XXX & XXXXX for presenting the findings of the survey and sparking some much needed conversation among the various departments at XX XXXXXX.”

XXXXXXXXX, Sr. VP & CFO

“XXXXX, It was a real pleasure meeting you and XXXXX. We found the presentation to be extremely enlightening and feel it has given us new insight into what our focus should be in our overall program of reducing our accidents and improving our drivers’ impression of the company and managers’ commitment to safety. Thank you again for giving us the opportunity to participate in this very important study.”

XXXXXXXXXXX, Safety Director

“We truly appreciate the opportunity you and your associates gave us to be included in your project and all that we learned from it. We’re reviewing the information and will be making changes where needed.”

XXXXXXXXX, VP Safety, Health & Environment

“It was our pleasure. We can't thank XXXXX XXXXX enough for all the time and effort to help us better understand our safety climate and the steps we need to take to improve it. The workshop was both interesting and enlightening.”

Dr. Emily Huang’s research team focuses on improving the quality of life for individuals through building a healthy and safe workplace, mainly through improving organizational safety culture and climate. Over the past two decades, Dr. Huang has developed and applied an interdisciplinary approach in order to ensure employees’ health, well-being and safety at work. Besides conducting scientific research, her team has also provided consulting services to the field by putting scientific approaches into practice. In addition, her lab is focusing on examining and evaluating possible interventions that could help improve workplace safety culture and climate and, in turn, promote organizational and societal well-being.

Some of Dr. Huang’s current research projects involve field applications that aim to improve safety culture and safety climate at work through various aspects, such as promoting management commitment

For example

Reality-to-Research: Utilizing Safety Climate Survey data to Advance Safety Climate Research
- Purposes: continue collecting safety climate data from companies by implementing safety climate surveys to build the database and provide benchmarks.

COVID-19 Safety Climate Assessment available from the Safety Climate Lab under Dr. Emily (Yueng-hsiang) Huang

https://blogs.ohsu.edu/occupational-health-sciences/2020/08/13/covid-19-safety-climate-assessment-available-from-the-safety-climate-lab-under-dr-emily-yueng-hsiang-huang/

Prioritizing safety: Dr. Huang’s partners in construction

https://blogs.ohsu.edu/occupational-health-sciences/2020/10/27/prioriti…

Podcast: "What's Work Got To Do With Safety Climate?"

https://blogs.ohsu.edu/occupational-health-sciences/2020/11/10/safety-c…

Listen on Soundcloud

Fortis and the Safety Climate Lab collaborate to assess safety climate internationally

https://blogs.ohsu.edu/occupational-health-sciences/2022/05/13/fortis-and-the-safety-climate-lab-collaborate-to-assess-safety-climate-internationally

The Safety Climate Lab and the construction industry celebrate Whitaker/Ellis Builders, Inc.!

https://blogs.ohsu.edu/occupational-health-sciences/2022/06/02/the-safe…

Safety Climate Lab and SAIF: Two-year collaboration on the Ansbro Safety Culture Spectrum and Survey

https://blogs.ohsu.edu/occupational-health-sciences/2022/06/28/safety-c…

Team Members

Frank Giordano - Research Associate, Project Manager

Dr. Frank Giordano is a Project Manager for Dr. Emily Huang’s Safety Climate Lab in the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences. He earned his Ph.D. from Kansas State University in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, and earned his M.S. at Kansas State University, and his B.S. at Manhattan College. His research interests are occupational safety and health, risk perception, and work arrangement. His aim is to bridge the gap between science and practice by using research to inform actionable and communicable intervention plans that improve safety, health, and well-being.

Cassandra Chlevin - Research Associate, Project Manager

Cassandra Chlevin is a Research Associate for Dr. Emily Huang's Safety Climate Lab. She received her B.S. in Psychology from Andrews University and an M.S. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Kansas State University. She is currently earning her Ph.D. from Kansas State in the same field. Her research interests include scale development, occupational health psychology, well-being promotion, and workplace stress contagion. Specifically, Cassandra examines how perceptions of coworkers contribute to the exacerbation or reduction of personal work-related stress.

Tsukumi Tondokoro - Post Doctoral Fellow

Dr. Tsukumi Tondokoro is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Emily Huang's Safety Climate Lab. Prior to this position, Dr. Tondokoro worked as a researcher at the Health Care Science Institute in Japan. She earned her Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from International University of Health and Welfare in Tokyo, Japan, and earned her Master's degree in Occupational Health from University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan in Kitakyushu, Japan. Her research interests include workplace intervention, occupational stress, and sleep aimed to improve workers’ health and well-being.

Bailey Lytle - Research Associate

Bailey Lytle is a Research Associate for Dr. Emily Huang’s Safety Climate Lab. She received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Nebraska Lincoln and is currently pursuing her M.A./Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Her research interests include occupational safety, health, and well-being, meaningful work, and recovery from work-related stress. Bailey is passionate about exploring ways to enhance and promote a positive and healthy work environment and finding impactful solutions for the well-being of individuals in the workplace.

Kali Kuhn - Intern

Kali Kuhn is an Intern for Dr. Emily Huang’s Safety Climate Lab. She graduated from Oregon State University in Spring 2024 with a B.S. in Psychology and Public Health Management & Policy. Kali's research interests involve improving individuals' mental health and general well-being through occupational settings focusing on enhancing working environments and promoting safety through everyday practice.

Nicholas Chiu - Intern

Nicholas Chiu is an Intern for Dr. Emily Huang's Safety Climate Lab at Oregon Health and Science University. He is currently pursuing a B.S. in Informatics with a Data Science track and a minor in Business at the University of Washington, expected to graduate in June 2026. Nicholas has earned professional certificates in Data Science and Data Visualization, and uses his expertise to assist the Lab with data management and statistical analyses.

Margaret Rothwell - Research Associate

Margaret Rothwell serves as a safety climate subject matter expert for the team. She has worked with Dr. Emily Huang on safety climate and culture projects for over two decades. Peg has a background in education with a B.S. in Education from Kent State University in Ohio. She has over 20 years of experience assisting safety research in various disciplines, e.g., engineering, physical ergonomics, epidemiology, behavioral/social sciences, and disability/return to work.

Yimin He, PhD. - Statistical Consultant

Dr. Yimin He is an Assistant Professor in the Industrial-Organizational Psychology Program within the Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia. She earned her Ph.D. and M.S. degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Texas A&M University and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Peking University. Yimin’s research interests include occupational health psychology, diversity and inclusion, personality assessments, social network, and quantitative methodologies. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ECRFCggAAAAJ&hl=en

Jin Lee, Ph.D. - Statistical Consultant

Dr. Lee is an Associate Professor of the Department of Psychological Sciences at the Kansas State University and a director of the Work Systems & Occupational Health Psychology lab. He got his Ph.D. and M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at the University of Connecticut and his M.A. in Clinical Psychology at the Yonsei University (Seoul, South Korea). Dr. Lee’s research focus is primarily on workplace safety, health, and well-being promotion. Specifically, he holds research interests in safety climate assessment and management in high-risk industries, and the application of advanced quantitative methodology in multidisciplinary research efforts.

Theodore K. Courtney, M.S., CSP - Research Consultant

With over 25 years’ experience in safety and health research and consulting, Ted Courtney brings unique insight into improving today’s workplace challenges. Ted is currently President of TKC Consulting, LLC, a research and innovation consulting firm, Vice President for Product Strategy at Concorde Health, Inc., and Instructor in Injury, Safety and Ergonomics at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. At Liberty Mutual for many years previously, Ted played key roles in the development of the Workplace Safety Index including widely-cited CFO surveys of injury and safety costs, perception-based falls risk assessment, and safety climate research in retail settings.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/theodore-courtney/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Courtney+TK

W. Kent Anger, Ph.D. – Professor Emirate, Mentor

Dr. Anger is a Professor Emeritus at the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, after spending 33 years as a faculty member and Associate Director at the Institute. He continues to volunteer as an Institute Mentor for the Safety Climate Lab. He is an experimental psychologist who has focused on broad areas of prevention research and practice. Over Dr. Anger’s extensive career he has (a) developed behaviorally-based computer training technology to teach the broadest range of populations (with very limited to extensive education) in the workplace; and, (b) applied the training technologies to prevent health and safety hazards, teach job skills, improve work-family balance, reduce the impact of domestic violence in the workplace and increase supervisor effectiveness and well-being of employees in construction and agriculture, in the context of intervention effectiveness. Over the past decade, Dr. Anger has expanded his research to Total Worker Health (TWH) and served as the founding Director of the NIOSH-funded Oregon Healthy Workforce Center 2011-2020, a Total Worker Health center.

Primary Research Collaborators

Dov Zohar, Ph.D.
In memory of Dov Zohar, Ph.D. Dr. Dov Zohar was a Professor and Faculty of IE & Management at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. In 1980 he published the foremost paper on Safety Climate, defining the concept and developing the original measurement scale, a current standard in the field. His work focused on development of a conceptual model linking organizational culture and climate; testing incremental effects of industry-specific safety climate scales; new strategies for safety leadership and safety climate improvement and the effect of sustainability policy-practice gaps. His work throughout the world had garnered him numerous awards including the Human Factors & Ergonomics Award for the Outstanding Scientific Contribution in 1981 and 1982; APA/CDC Best Safety Intervention Awards in 2003 and 2013; and the American Psychological Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. His legacy continues to influence and inspire the field of occupational safety.

Mo Wang, Ph.D.
Dr. Mo Wang is the Lanzillotti-McKethan Eminent Scholar Chair at the Warrington College of Business at University of Florida. He is also the Department Chair of the Management Department, as well as the Director of Human Resource Research Center at University of Florida. He specializes in research areas of retirement and older worker employment, occupational health psychology, expatriate and newcomer adjustment, leadership and team processes, and advanced quantitative methodologies.
Ryan Olson, Ph.D.
Dr. Ryan Olson is a Professor at the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Utah where he helped establish new graduate training programs in Occupational Health Psychology. His research programs have focused on effective safety, health, and well-being interventions for isolated (lone) workers in demanding occupations (e.g., commercial drivers, and home care workers). He is a founding investigator and past Co-Director of the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center (a NIOSH Center of Excellence in Total Worker Health®) and past Co-Director of the Oregon Occupational Public Health Program.
Robert R. Sinclair, PhD
Dr. Sinclair is a Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Clemson University where he also serves as the Graduate Program coordinator for the department's MS and PhD programs. Dr. Sinclair is a founding member and past president of the Society for Occupational Health Psychology and the founding (and current) Editor-in-Chief for Occupational Health Science. Dr. Sinclair's research interests include economic stressors such as job insecurity, financial strain, and organizational climate as it relates to employee safety, health, and well-being, and the implications of the changing employment relationships for occupational health.
Jia-Hua Lin, Ph.D.
Dr. Lin is a senior research ergonomist with SHARP (Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention) program within the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries in the U.S. He is appointed as an Affiliat Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, and serves as a scientific editor for the journal Applied Ergonomics. His expertise includes technologies in human factors and ergonomics research and practice, physical ergonomics, musculoskeletal disorders, occupational biomechanics, and occupational safety.
Maura Kelly, Ph.D.
Dr. Maura Kelly is a Professor in the Sociology Department at Portland State University. As a public sociologist, Dr. Maura Kelly's researches inequalities in the construction trades and advocates to increase opportunities for women and people of color in the trades. Dr. Maura Kelly's research team has assessed a variety of programs intended to increase the recruitment and retention of diverse workers in the trades, including the Highway Construction Workforce Development Program; RISE up; Green Dot for the Trades; City of Seattle Acceptable Work Sites; Mentorship Matters; as well as pre-apprenticeship programs by Oregon Tradeswomen, Constructing Hope, and the Pacific Northwest Carpenters Institute.
Liu-Qin Yang, Ph.D.
Dr. Liu-Qin Yang is a Professor of Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the Portland State University (PSU). She is a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She is the President of the Society for Occupational Health Psychology. She is also the director of the Occupational Health Psychology-Total Worker Health training program at PSU. She specializes in the areas of workplace mistreatment and its prevention, employee well-being, employee emotion and engagement/motivation, assessment and quantitative methodologies.
Changya Hu, Ph.D.
Dr. Changya Hu is a Distinguished Professor of the Department of Business Administration, College of Commerce at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. She is also the Associate Director of the Center for Business Sustainability at the National Chengchi University. Dr. Changya Hu specializes in research areas of mentoring, leadership, occupational health psychology, and structural equation modeling.
Yang Miang Goh, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Dr. Yang Miang Goh is the Director of the Centre for Project and Facilities Management at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and leads the Safety and Resilience Research Unit. He has held significant roles, including Assistant Dean and Dean's Chair in the College of Design and Engineering, and specializes in Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) technology and management, project management, and risk management. Dr. Yang Miang Goh extensive experience spans senior consultancy in the oil and gas industry, government positions, academia, and various honorary roles in professional organizations.
Marvin Dainoff, Ph.D.
Dr. Dainoff is a research scientist/leader with extensive experience in optimization of human-technology interaction with specific focus on integration of effectiveness (accomplishment of mission), efficiency (optimization of resources), and safety (avoidance of injury, damage) at both organizational and individual levels. He has conducted and/or facilitated leading-edge scientific research on technology impacts on workplace and surface transportation with emphasis on translation from research to practice reflected in years of service on technical standards committees and practical expertise in ergonomic training for users. Dr. Dainoff is a Board Certified Professional Ergonomist (CPE) with experience in research, teaching, and professional service.
Lauren Murphy, Ph.D.
Dr. Murphy is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences at Northeastern University in Boston. Her primary role is as the Director of the Occupational Ergonomics and Health program, which focuses on a graduate certificate for current students and working professionals. Dr. Murphy completed her Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology with a concentration in occupational health psychology at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Her current research projects involve examining safety climate in the trucking and construction industries, as well as investigating work-family issues as they relate to workers’ health and safety outcomes.
Larry Hettinger, Ph.D.
Dr. Hettinger is a researcher and consultant in the areas of performance and safety in complex work systems. His career has focused on identifying and improving organizational and technical influences on system performance.
Michelle M. Robertson, Ph.D.
Dr. Robertson is a board-certified Professional Ergonomist and received her PhD in Instructional Technology, M.S. in Systems Management, from the University of Southern California and her B.A. in Human Factors from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She conducts applied field and laboratory research projects in human factors/ergonomics and management.
Anna Kelly, M.A.I.O.P.
Anna Kelly was a Project Manager/Coordinator for Dr. Emily Huang’s Safety Climate Lab at the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences. She holds a master's in Applied Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Colorado State University and degrees from the University of Oregon and Portland State University in Art and Psychology. Her professional experience includes executive and operations coordination in international arts, non-profit, corporate, and academic settings. Anna was dedicated to putting research into practice with a focus on safety, occupational health, and employee well-being.
Elisa Rega, M.M.
Elisa Rega was a Project Manager/Coordinator for Dr. Emily Huang’s Safety Climate Lab and earned a B.A. in Psychology from Oberlin College. Previously, Elisa conducted research at the National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan and published articles on creativity training. Some research interests include occupational safety and health, intervention design, dissemination, mindfulness, autism, sleep, diversity, equity, inclusion, game-based learning, memory, and music and cognition. In addition to psychology research, Elisa is a concert violist who has performed in orchestras internationally and teaches music.

Safety Climate: A leading safety indicator – backed by science

Background

What is Safety Climate?

What does that mean?

Why is it important?

What are the implications?

Prior Research Findings from Dr. Huang’s Research Team

Testimonials and Reviews from Participating Executives and Top Managers in Safety Climate Assessment

Current Research Interests and Projects

For example

Recent Publications

Blogs and Podcasts

Dr. Emily Huang recognized as prolific author on safety climate

Dr. Huang’s Safety Climate Lab embarks on a collaboration with SAIF

Recruiting participants to develop a Total Worker Health® climate survey