Occupational health and safety culture in coal mining: a comparative study of underground and surface workers in Türkiye

This cross-sectional study quantitatively examined Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) culture among employees of an underground-surface coal mine in Edirne, Türkiye (N = 168; 157 male, 11 female). Data were collected using a demographic form and a validated OHS Culture Scale comprising three subdimensions: General Safety Awareness, OHS Training-Communication, and Risk Perception. Given non-normal distributions, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests were applied. Overall OHS culture was high, but meaningful disparities emerged. Higher education (associate’s degree and above) was associated with greater safety awareness and overall OHS culture, whereas underground workers-despite higher inherent hazards-reported lower awareness, training-communication, and overall culture than surface and workshop staff, suggesting possible risk normalization. Gender effects were limited, though women scored higher on general safety awareness. Training frequency mattered selectively: receiving 10 or more OHS trainings significantly elevated risk perception, whereas accident and near-miss experiences did not significantly affect risk perception or other culture dimensions. These findings indicate that generic policies are insufficient. Organizations should complement baseline programs with targeted, unit-specific interventions for high-risk groups (notably underground crews) and cultivate a learning-oriented safety culture that systematically captures, analyzes, and feeds back lessons from incidents and near-misses.