Does safety climate make sense in hospitals of a developing country?

Introduction: Healthcare as a high hazard industry, should work to enhance their patient safety. To achieve this objective, they first have to identify their existing safety climate status. Methods: This study was conducted in summer of 2010. We assessed safety climate Using Hospital Survey On Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC). 385 employees of three teaching hospitals affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences participated in the study. The results were expressed as percentage of positive answers toward patient safety. Results: Patient safety culture scores were low to average in all dimensions. Supervisor expectations and actions promoting patient safety and teamwork within units received the highest scores in all three hospitals, while non punitive response to error attained the least score in studied hospitals. Conclusion: The studied hospitals, relying on their strengths concerning patient’s safety climate and trying to resolve their weaknesses, would be able to create a safe and suitable environment which supports patient safety. Establishing a system for reporting errors, encouraging staff to report events and applying non- punitive response to prevent the errors are suggested.