Workplace safety performance: conscientiousness, cognitive failure, and their interaction.

This research investigated the effects of cognitive failure on workplace safety and accidents over 2 studies. It was hypothesized that cognitive failure would directly predict safety behavior and workplace accidents and predict these outcomes over and above conscientiousness. It was found that cognitive failure uniquely accounted for workplace safety behavior and accidents. However, it has been suggested by researchers that certain individual differences might interact to produce differential effects. Thus, a moderated model was tested examining the interaction of cognitive failure and conscientiousness. It was found that cognitive failure moderated the relationship between conscientiousness and accidents and unsafe work behaviors. Overall, results suggest that cognitive failure plays an important part in individual safety behavior, especially when conscientiousness is low.