Promoting safety performance in safety-critical organizations: unleashing the potential of psychological capital

<i>Objectives</i>. Despite the implementation of various interventions in safety-critical organizations (SCOs), occupational accidents and injuries remain persistently frequent in industrialized countries. Consequently, promoting occupational safety continues to pose a major challenge in the field of occupational health and safety (OHS). This time-lagged study investigates the potential of psychological capital (PsyCap) - a higher-order construct comprising self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience - to directly enhance workers' safety performance (i.e., safety compliance and safety participation) and indirectly through the mediation of safety knowledge and safety motivation. <i>Methods</i>. The research involved 134 workers (93.3% male) from Italian SCOs who completed three questionnaires. The data were analysed via path analysis. <i>Results</i>. The results highlight the pivotal role of PsyCap in improving safety compliance and safety participation over time, both directly and indirectly through safety knowledge but not through safety motivation. <i>Conclusion</i>. These findings highlight PsyCap as a crucial positive personal resource for shaping safety behaviours in SCOs. The results suggest opportunities to develop innovative OHS training programmes that enhance PsyCap within these organizations.