ArticleFrontiers in public health2026
Corporate whistleblower system and workplace safety performance: from the dual perspectives of safety investment and internal control.
Article in Frontiers in public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Introduction: While corporate whistleblower system helps prevent and mitigate corporate violations within business operations, yet its effectiveness in the field of workplace safety remains largely unsubstantiated. Thus, it is both theoretically and practically important to examine whether and how the adoption of whistleblower system is associated with workplace safety performance. Methods: Grounded in an integrated framework of accident causation theory (explaining the direct effect on safety performance), deterrence theory (elucidating the mediating role of safety investment), and signaling theory (elucidating the mediating role of internal control quality), this study examines the effect and underlying mechanisms of corporate whistleblower system adoption on workplace safety performance. Using a sample of 3,086 firm-year observations from 266 A-share listed companies in high-risk industries, we employ fixed-effects models and mediation analyses to investigate the relationship between corporate whistleblower systems and workplace safety performance and the underlying mechanisms. Results: The results show that whistleblower system adoption is associated with significant improvements in safety performance, as evidenced by reductions in workplace fatalities and employee mortality rates. This finding remains robust after a series of endogeneity corrections and robustness checks. Mechanism tests further reveal two distinct pathways: a resource pathway via increased safety investment and a governance pathway via enhanced internal control quality. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that the positive correlation between corporate whistleblower system adoption and safety performance is particularly pronounced in firms located in eastern China. Discussion/Conclusion: This research not only extends the governance scope of whistleblower systems from financial and compliance domains to workplace safety, but also highlights the critical role of internal employees as safety governance actors. The findings offer policy implications for designing a collaborative internal-external safety governance system that leverages both regulatory oversight and internal self-regulation.
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