Conduct a Safety Climate Survey

How to Conduct a Safety Climate Survey

Safety climate surveys should include questions that assess employees’ perceptions of your organization’s:

• General safety rules
• Road safety rules
• Management’s commitment to fleet and driver safety
• Communications and support of issues relating to driver safety
• Safety procedures
• Impacts of work pressures on driving safety

There are three main steps to conducting a safety climate survey:

• Develop and conduct the survey
• Tabulate and analyze the responses
• Report the findings

Develop the Survey

1.  Determine how you will conduct your survey:  online or written. Online surveys are easier for collecting, tabulating and analyzing data. Surveys with written responses require resources to enter and tabulate data. Consider:

• Employees’ access to computers
• Employees’ comfort with the two methods
• The method that will get the most responses
• The availability of resources to manually:
  • Enter survey responses into a computer
  • Tabulate the results

You can use a combination of these two methods, allowing different employee groups to respond using their preferred method.

2.  Develop your questions. Base questions on the information needed and the method you will use. Consider:

• A maximum of 20 to 25 questions should give you enough information about your organization’s safety climate.
• Too many questions could overwhelm participants and limit the number of responses.
• Word your questions consistently.
• Use rating scales to allow for a range of responses.
• Include some demographic questions so you can look at specific employee groups:
  • Age
  • Experience
  • Type of vehicle driven
  • Job description

Review our sample questions to help get you started.

3.  Create the survey.

• Your organization may have access to a research department or survey software.
• Survey programs, such as Survey Monkey, are available online.
• Include an introduction stating the survey’s purpose and providing instructions.

Tabulate and Analyze Responses

• Use charts and graphs to help analyze your survey results.
• Graphs and charts can be easily created using Excel, Survey Monkey or other survey programs.
• Consider cross-tabulating demographic questions with other questions to provide you with information on specific groups.

Report Your Survey Results

• Write a survey report, including:
• An introduction stating the purpose of the survey
• Your findings and conclusions
• Use the survey findings to help:
• Identify risks and hazards
• Develop strategies
• Create a plan for action