Studying safety climate among locomotive drivers of Tehran subway transportation lines in 2013

Introduction: Safety is a significant part of the public transportation. Suitable safety climate has a positive effect on safety performance and reduces accidents rate. The aim of this study was investigating safety climate status of Tehran subway drivers in 2013. Material and method:  The present study was a descriptive and cross-sectional study. In this study, statistical population was all drivers of 1, 2 and 4 lines of Tehran Urban & Suburban Railway Operation company. Also, a questionnaire arranged by one of our researcher was used to collect demographics data of subjects. Safety climate was also investigated using standard Vinod Kumar's questionnaire. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and T-Student and ANOVA tests using SPSS21 software. Results: Overall, 293 questionnaires were analyzed. Among the participants, 38.8% were line 1 derivers, 31.1% line 2 drivers and 33.1% line 4 drivers. The mean and standard deviation of the safety climate was 146.53±49.44, which is less than 147 (median). The results indicated that safety climate had a relation with the age group and education levels (P<0.01), while had no significant relationship with the deriving experience, and also marital status (P>0.05). Conclusion: Safety climate status among subway drivers is not desirable. Among the various factors, commitment and performance of management in the safety area had the weakest status. Strengthening the structure of the health, Safety and Environment (HSE) management system in the Tehran Urban and Suburban Railway Operation company can enhance the level of safety climate among staff of this organization.