Occupational health and safety are critical in promoting the wellness of organizations and employees. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most life-threatening viruses encountered in recent history, providing a unique opportunity for research to examine factors that drive employee safety behavior. Drawing from terror management theory, we propose and test a moderated mediation model using data collected from employees working during a peak of the pandemic. We identify two sources of influence — one external (i.e., media exposure), and one internal (i.e., HR practices) to the organization — that shape employees’ mortality salience and safety behaviors. We find that COVID-19 HR practices significantly moderate the relationship between daily COVID-19 media exposure and mortality salience, with media exposure positively associated with mortality salience at lower levels of HR practices but its effects substituted by higher levels of HR practices. Moreover, our results also show that mortality salience spurs safety behaviors, with age moderating this relationship such that younger — but not older — employees are more likely to engage in safety behaviors due to mortality salience. Taken together, we offer theoretical implications for the safety behavior literature and practical implications for organizations faced with health crises or having employees who commonly work in hazardous conditions.

职业健康和安全对于促进组织和员工的健康至关重要。COVID-19 大流行是近代历史上遇到的最危及生命的病毒之一，为研究驱动员工安全行为的因素提供了独特的机会。借鉴恐怖管理理论，我们使用从大流行高峰期间工作的员工收集的数据，提出并测试了一个有调节的调解模型。我们确定了两种影响源——一种是组织的外部影响（即媒体曝光），一种是组织内部的影响（即人力资源实践）——它们塑造了员工的死亡率显着性和安全行为。我们发现 COVID-19 人力资源实践显着缓和了每日 COVID-19 媒体曝光与死亡率显着性之间的关系，在较低水平的 HR 实践中，媒体曝光与死亡率显着性呈正相关，但其影响被较高水平的 HR 实践所取代。此外，我们的结果还表明，死亡率显着性会刺激安全行为，而年龄会调节这种关系，因此较年轻（而非年长）的员工更有可能因死亡率显着性而采取安全行为。综上所述，我们为安全行为文献提供了理论意义，并为面临健康危机或拥有通常在危险条件下工作的员工的组织提供了实际意义。随着年龄的增长，这种关系变得缓和，因此由于死亡率显着性，较年轻（但不是较年长）的员工更有可能参与安全行为。综上所述，我们为安全行为文献提供了理论意义，并为面临健康危机或拥有通常在危险条件下工作的员工的组织提供了实际意义。随着年龄的增长，这种关系变得缓和，因此由于死亡率显着性，较年轻（但不是较年长）的员工更有可能参与安全行为。综上所述，我们为安全行为文献提供了理论意义，并为面临健康危机或拥有通常在危险条件下工作的员工的组织提供了实际意义。