Paradoxical safety leadership: Conceptualization and measurement

Abstract

SummaryManaging workplace safety requires leaders to navigate through competing goals and processes. However, the current conceptualization and measurement of safety leadership do not adequately address this practical reality. To address this issue, we integrate paradox theory and paradoxical leadership research with safety‐management literature to develop the conceptualization and measurement of paradoxical safety leadership (PSL). We define PSL as a multidimensional construct that consists of seemingly contradictory yet interrelated leader behaviors to meet competing goals and demands in safety management. Using a combination of deductive and inductive methods, we identify four behavioral dimensions of PSL: (1) placing an emphasis on both production and safety; (2) enforcing safety compliance while allowing flexibility; (3) bridging upper management safety requirements versus frontline safety needs and requests; and (4) balancing time in the office and the time spent with employees in the field. We then provide evidence that supports the proposed four‐factor structure, reliability, convergent, discriminant, incremental validity, and cross‐cultural invariance of the PSL scale. Our study broadens the understanding of the role of leadership in workplace safety by developing a paradoxical approach to managing safety tensions and providing a measure that has the potential to advance research in both safety and paradox leadership domains.