title: An exploration of workplace social capital as an antecedent of occupational safety and health climate and outcomes in the Chinese education sector.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is widely acknowledged that teachers are at greater risk of work-related health problems. At the same time, employee perceptions of different dimensions of organizational climate can influence their attitudes, performance, and well-being at work. This study applied and extended a safety climate model in the context of the education sector in Hong Kong. Apart from safety considerations alone, the study included occupational health considerations and social capital and tested their relationships with occupational safety and health (OSH) outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven hundred and four Hong Kong teachers completed a range of questionnaires exploring social capital, OSH climate, OSH knowledge, OSH performance (compliance and participation), general health, and self-rated health complaints and injuries. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the relationships between predictive and outcome variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SEM analysis revealed a high level of goodness of fit, and the hypothesized model including social capital yielded a better fit than the original model. Social capital, OSH climate, and OSH performance were determinants of both positive and negative outcome variables. In addition, social capital not only significantly predicted general health directly, but also had a predictive effect on the OSH climate-behavior-outcome relationship.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study makes a contribution to the workplace social capital and OSH climate literature by empirically assessing their relationship in the Chinese education sector.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Work, Health and Organisations, University of Nottingham, Yang Fujia Building, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham, NG8 1BB, UK.
authors.forename: Jessica Janice
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Stavroula
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leka
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: MacLennan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004493:Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006304:Health Status; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D066270:Social Capital; D017132:Workplace