Understanding Safety Noncompliance in Saudi Work Organizations: Why Workers Ignore Regulations and What Management Can Do?

Abstract

This study investigates the cultural, organizational, and regulatory reasons for safety noncompliance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia workplaces. Adopting a mixed-methods quantitative design, the study combines Hofstede’s Values Survey Module 2013 (VSM13) and the Nordic Occupational Safety Climate Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50) to evaluate national cultural dimensions and safety climate perceptions among 171 participants from diverse sectors and demographic categories. An international comparison gap analysis between Saudi occupational safety and health (OSH) and labor law and global ISO 45001 standards also underpins the study’s regulatory findings. VSM13 outcomes manifest culturally ingrained characteristics—i.e., high Power Distance (PDI), moderately high Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI), and low Indulgence (IVR)—that inhibit worker voice, support obedience to authority, and deter active safety intervention (Hofstede et al., 2013; Almutairi, Heller, & Yen, 2020). Subgroup analysis indicates that females, less educated, and unskilled participants significantly increased in PDI and UAI, which distinguishes them as potential passive noncompliance risk groups. By contrast, young, highly educated participants exhibited increased individualism and proactive safety orientations, which supports regional modernization effects documented in the literature (Almutairi, 2019; Ahsan, Rana, & Fatima, 2023). NOSACQ-50 results suggest that while employees demonstrate high peer commitment and trust in safety systems, perceptions of managerial justice and empowerment remain low—key dimensions for effective participatory safety leadership (Kines et al., 2011; Tear & Reader, 2023). Regulatory analysis highlights that while Saudi labor law emphasizes employer duty, it lacks enforceable mechanisms for participative safety governance, such as anonymous reporting, climate diagnostics, or worker consultation—mechanisms required under ISO 45001 (ISO, 2018; Choudhry, 2023). It advances safety culture research by describing how national culture, safety climate, and legal infrastructure function in tandem in influencing safety behavior in a non-Western country. It has practical applications in the need for culturally specific communication policies, empowerment of the supervisor, and institutional reforms in filling regulatory holes. These recommendations facilitate sustainable safety governance compatible with Vision 2030 goals of Saudi Arabia (Alqahtani et al., 2024; GOSI, 2023).