Development and evaluation of the behavioural occupational safety culture application (BOSCA) based on psychological, behavioural and situational safety culture dimensions for the malaysian oil and gas industry

This research examined the fundamental dimensions of safety culture and translated them into the design, development, and evaluation of a proactive mobile application framework for the Malaysian oil and gas industry. Despite stringent legislative requirements including the Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Act 2022 and sector-specific regulations, accident rates within the industry have remained persistently high, indicating that compliance-focused strategies alone are insufficient to achieve sustained improvements in safety performance. Prior studies highlighted that unsafe acts, unsafe behaviours, and weak organisational safety cultures were major contributors to workplace incidents, yet only limited efforts had been spent integrating behavioural, psychological, and situational factors into a unified, technology-enabled intervention. This gap signalled the need for a digital, user-centred solution capable of enhancing proactive safety engagement in real time. The study was conducted in three sequential phases. In Phase One, the key elements of safety culture were identified and refined through a comprehensive literature review and evidence synthesis, categorising them into three core dimensions: psychological, behavioural, and situational. In Phase Two, a mobile application framework was designed and developed based on these dimensions, guided by Cooper’s Reciprocal Safety Culture Model, Hudson’s Safety Culture Maturity Model, and instructional design principles to ensure pedagogical logic, usability, and contextual relevance. The resulting application incorporated safety training, incident reporting, hazard identification, communication tools, and embedded behavioural reinforcements to enhance proactive safety actions. In Phase Three, the application was evaluated by industry practitioners to assess user acceptance, perceived usefulness, and intention to use. The findings identified three principal safety culture dimensions, namely psychological, behavioural, and situational. AHP analysis revealed that the behavioural dimension was the most preferred category among stakeholders, followed by situational and psychological dimensions. Within the behavioural category, safety rules, safety ownership, and safety communication emerged as the highest-ranked elements. SEM analysis further confirmed that the behavioural construct demonstrated the strongest contribution to safety culture compared to the other dimensions. The developed BOSCA application was subsequently validated by experts, with all evaluation items meeting the Fuzzy Delphi acceptance criteria (threshold value d ≤ 0.2, expert agreement ≥ 75%, and α-cut ≥ 0.5). User acceptance evaluation indicated positive levels of perceived usefulness, usability, and intention to use the application, supporting its suitability as a digital intervention for strengthening proactive safety culture practices in the Malaysian oil and gas industry. Overall, the study contributed to theoretical advancement by integrating safety culture determinants into a holistic digital framework and provided practical value through the creation of a culturally adapted, self-directed mobile application. The framework offers guidance for future development of digital safety tools and supports the broader goal of fostering a sustainable, technology-enabled safety culture in high-risk industries such as oil and gas in Malaysia.