Consideration of Future Safety Consequences and Safety Citizenship Behaviour among Healthcare Professionals during COVID-19: A CrossSectional Study from Kerala, India

Abstract

Background: Safety Citizenship Behaviour SCB represents voluntary safety supportive behaviour that extends beyond mandatory safety compliance. During the COVID 19 pandemic, healthcare professionals were expected not only to follow prescribed infection control protocols but also to engage in proactive and prosocial safety behaviours. Consideration of Future Safety Consequences CFSC may theoretically influence such behaviour by shaping how individuals evaluate the future impact of present safety related actions.

Objective: This study assessed the relationship between CFSC and SCB among healthcare professionals working in selected hospitals in Kerala, India, during the COVID 19 period.

Methods: An institution based analytical cross sectional study was conducted among 373 healthcare professionals from four selected cooperative hospitals in Kerala. Data were collected using a structured self administered questionnaire. SCB was assessed using a 20 item scale covering proactive and prosocial safety behaviours, while CFSC was assessed using a 12 item scale measuring future oriented safety consequence evaluation. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were performed using SPSS version 21.

Results: The mean SCB score was 87.72 plus or minus 11.36, and 326 participants 87.4 percent demonstrated high SCB. In contrast, the mean CFSC score was 29.32 plus or minus 5.69. A total of 207 participants 55.5 percent were classified in the low CFSC category and only 11 participants 2.9 percent in the high category. CFSC showed no statistically significant relationship with SCB, with r equal to 0.009 and p equal to 0.864.

Conclusion: Healthcare professionals demonstrated high levels of SCB, but CFSC was not significantly associated with SCB. Voluntary safety behaviour during pandemic healthcare work may be influenced more by immediate occupational demands, institutional protocols, and professional responsibility than by abstract future oriented safety consequence evaluation.