This paper examines the safety climate of a refinery in comparison to that of companies providing services in the area of maintenance, operating from the same refinery. The instrument used is a questionnaire that comprises ten subscales. In accordance with obtained data the employees of the subcontracting companies assess in a more negative way safety climate than employees of the contracting company. Additionally, we observed that temporary employees, presented in these companies, show greater negative perceptions of safety climate than their colleagues with a permanent contract. It was also identified significant correlations of perceptions of safety climate with the following variables: Age, Academic Qualifications, Professional Experience and having been an Accident Victim.