Leading the way to safety : The development of the S.A.F.E.R. leadership model Timur Ozbilir, M.S., Jennifer H.K. Wong, M.S., Jennifer K. Dimoff, M.S., Aleka M. MacLellan, M.S. Lenora Collins, M.S., Kevin Kelloway, Ph.D.

PURPOSE Good leadership predicts subordinates’ safe behaviours and lower injury rate (Barling, Loughlin, & Kelloway, 2002; Zohar, 2002) Most of the research on safety and leadership to date has adapted measurements from existing leadership models, which are too abstract for use in training PURPOSE: To develop and validate a practical measurement of safety leadership

MODEL SPEAK: Behaviors relating to one-way dissemination of information ACT: Observable behaviours to demonstrate leaders’ own adherence to safety at work FOCUS: Behaviours that demonstrate commitment, persistence, motivation, and engaging in monitoring ENGAGE: Behaviours of the leader that encourage two- way/open involvement in safety decisions RECOGNIZE: Individualized praise, appreciation and recognition of safety accomplishments

METHOD 15-item scale developed using a process recommended by Hinkin and Schriesheim (1989) 264 blue collar workers in the United States Online survey including a SAFER and similar measures as well as outcome measures

RESULTS EFA: Only one factor Correlations –SAFER is positively related to safety-specific transformational leadership and safety leadership, and negatively related to safety-specific passive leadership –SAFER is associated with safety-related subordinate outcomes, such as ease of safety communication with leaders, higher safety compliance and participation, more safety citizenship behaviors, improved safety climate, and enhanced safety-specific trust in leaders

RESULTS Hierarchical regressions: –S.A.F.E.R. leadership was positively associated with ease of safety communication, safety climate, and safety- specific trust above and beyond the effects of safety- specific transformational leadership and safety leadership

CONCLUSION A measure of safety leadership that focuses on leaders’ observable behaviours Not only does the S.A.F.E.R. Leadership Scale predict behavioural safety performance, but it also predicts safety attitudes and perceptions (ease of safety communication, safety climate, and safety-specific trust) beyond the two existing safety leadership measures

FUTURE DIRECTIONS As safety behaviours may take time to develop, longitudinal designs should be used Use of various sources of ratings to avoid common method bias Safety leadership training program

Thank you! Thank you SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

S.A.F.E.R. Leadership Scale Talks about safety related problems at workSpeak Talks about how to prevent accidentsSpeak Communicates a positive vision of workplace safetySpeak Complies with the safety protocols he/she describesAct Pays attention to safety rules and regulationsAct Practices what he/she preaches when it comes to safetyAct Demonstrates a commitment to a safe workplaceFocus Monitors for any unsafe actionsFocus Motivates employees to be safeFocus Encourages employees to suggest new ways to improve safetyEngage Asks employees to share their perspectives on safetyEngage Encourages employees to report any challenges related to safetyEngage Praises employees when they are being safeRecognize Recognizes employees who perform their jobs safelyRecognize Praises employees who prioritize safetyRecognize

LIMITATIONS Cross-sectional Common method bias Factor structure

Correlation Matrix MSDSpeakAct_FocusEngage Recogni ze Safer SafeLea d SafeTra ns Passive Lead SafeTru st Citizen SafeCli mate SafeCo mm SafePar t SafeCo mp Speak_ **.91 **.93 **.87 **.97 **.82 ** -.40 **.74 **.56 **.74 **.66 **.51 **.39 ** Act_ ** 1.91 **.83 **.78 **.92 **.82 **.78 ** -.47 **.78 **.50 **.78 **.73 **.46 **.41 ** Focus ** **.84 **.96 **.82 **.80 ** -.45 **.78 **.51 **.76 **.69 **.49 **.40 ** Engage _ **.83 **.89 ** 1.90 **.96 **.81 **.83 ** -.37 **.74 **.61 **.73 **.65 **.52 **.38 ** Recogni ze **.78 **.84 **.90 ** 1.93 **.75 **.80 ** -.34 **.70 **.56 **.68 **.62 **.48 **.31 ** Safer_ **.92 **.96 **.93 ** 1.85 ** -.43 **.79 **.58 **.78 **.70 **.52 **.40 ** SafeLea d **.81 **.75 **.85 ** 1.86 ** -.39 **.84 **.56 **.76 **.69 **.55 **.46 ** SafeTra ns **.78 **.80 **.83 **.80 **.85 **.86 ** **.77 **.68 **.70 **.67 **.50 **.37 ** Passive Lead ** -.47 ** -.45 ** -.37 ** -.34 ** -.43 ** -.39 ** -.31 ** ** ** -.61 ** -.17 ** -.30 ** SafeTru st **.78 **.74 **.70 **.79 **.84 **.77 ** -.49 ** 1.42 **.79 **.75 **.45 **.44 ** Citizen **.50 **.51 **.61 **.56 **.58 **.56 **.68 ** ** 1.39 **.41 **.63 **.36 ** SafeCli mate **.78 **.76 **.73 **.68 **.78 **.76 **.70 ** -.67 **.79 **.39 ** 1.81 **.41 **.44 ** SafeCo mm **.73 **.69 **.65 **.62 **.70 **.69 **.67 ** -.61 **.75 **.41 **.81 ** 1.44 **.45 ** SafePar t **.46 **.49 **.52 **.48 **.52 **.55 **.50 ** -.17 **.45 **.63 **.41 **.44 ** 1.69 ** SafeCo mp **.41 **.40 **.38 **.31 **.40 **.46 **.37 ** -.30 **.44 **.36 **.44 **.45 **.69 ** 1

Regressions Safety-specific TrustSafety CitizenshipSafety Climate Safety Communication Safety ParticipationSafety Compliance Step and Variable β R2ΔR2Δ β R2ΔR2Δ β R2ΔR2Δ β R2ΔR2Δ β R2ΔR2Δ β R2ΔR2Δ Step 1.72 c.47 c.59 c.50 c.30 c.22 c Safety-specific Transformational Leadership.17 a.78 c.17 a.26 b Safety Leadership.70 c c.47 c.44 c.57 c Step 2.01 c c.03 c Safety-specific Transformational Leadership c Safety Leadership.59 c b.36 b.53 c S.A.F.E.R. Leadership.24 c c.38 c.19.08