Safety leadership practices for organizational safety compliance: Developing a research agenda from a review of the literature. (July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pilbeam, Colin; Doherty, Noeleen; Davidson, Ross; Denyer, David
• Is Part Of: Safety science. Volume 86(2016)
• Page Start: 110
• Page End: 121
• Publication Date: 2016-07
• Subjects: Leadership -- Compliance -- Regulated environments -- Self-regulation -- Safety participation; Industrial accidents -- Periodicals; Accident Prevention -- Periodicals; Safety -- Periodicals; Travail -- Accidents -- Périodiques; 363.11
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ssci.2016.02.015
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0925-7535

Abstract

Highlights: OHSAS 18001 reveals unexamined safety leadership practices for safety compliance. Complete organizational safety compliance depends on a wide range of practices. Safety leadership views leadership narrowly ignoring 'plural' forms. Safety leadership has been investigated in a limited range of contexts. Alternative methods for investigating safety leadership are outlined. Abstract: Safety leadership is asserted to positively influence safety compliance amongst employees. We examine this assertion by conducting a systematic literature review of the available academic literature on safety leadership practices and observed safety outcomes. We identified 25 empirical studies, the majority of which measured leadership through generic scales (MLQ and LMX). Closer scrutiny of the outcome measures suggested that these were mainly aligned to the implementation and operations phases of the OHSAS 18001 safety management systems framework. We conclude that safety compliance has been narrowly defined in academic study, but in practice embraces a much wider range of activities. While safety leadership may contribute to successfully achieving these other actions, there is no empirical evidence for this. Moreover, there is considerable critique of transformational and transactional leadership, so that the specification of desired leadership practices is problematic. We propose that a broader conceptualization of safety compliance requires safety leadership to embrace 'plural' forms of leadership. We draw attention to the narrow range of contexts in which safety leadership has been empirically studied and suggest other settings for investigation. Alternative methods for investigating safety leadership other than scales of leadership behaviour are suggested to enrich our understanding of safety leadership and so improve safety compliance.