Safety Culture, Resilient Behavior, and Stress in Air Traffic Management

In today’s rapidly changing air traffic management (ATM) environment, safety culture and organizational resilience are seen as key enablers for effective safety management. Under normal conditions a positive safety culture is known to be reflected in proactive behavior and to serve as indirect indicator of organizational resilience. But how are safety culture development and resilient behavior affected by psychological stress? This study aims at relating safety culture to resilient behavior and psychological stress of 282 air traffic controllers, air traffic safety electronics personnel, and meteorologists. Results demonstrate that safety culture across different occupational groups is difficult to assess, but that facets of safety culture can be meaningfully related to resilient behavior. Structural equation modeling indicates that psychological stress has a positive effect on resilient behavior and a negative effect on safety culture development. Findings are discussed in the safety management context of the ATM system including air traffic control, engineering, and meteorological services. Finally, conclusions are drawn with a view on providing an initial position for future studies.