Development and Validation of a Safety Climate Scale for the German Armed Forces

Abstract

Abstract. The Directorate Aviation Safety of the German Armed Forces conducts flight safety audits in flying units. However, up to now, it has not been possible to draw on a psychometrically based instrument for the assessment of safety climate. The goal of this study was to implement an appropriate safety climate questionnaire. To gain flight safety relevant information about the safety climate of the units of the German Armed Forces, the Aviation Safety Climate Scale (Evans et al. 2007) was adapted (N = 989). Data from half of the sample (n = 497) were used in an exploratory factor analysis that produced the same three-factor model as in the original scale. A confirmatory factor analysis on the second half of the sample (n = 492) confirmed the original three-factor model (compared to a two-factor solution and a four-factor solution) as an acceptable fit to the data. Thus, the first evidence supporting reliability and some aspects of the validity was found.

Keywords

• safety climate
• safety culture
• aviation
• military aviation
• scale adaption