The effects of leadership on safety outcomes: The mediating roles of trust and safety climate

Abstract

Abstract:Background: In the current study, the mediating roles of safety climate and trust in the relations between leadership styles which are transformational and transactional and safety outcomes which are safety compliance and safety participation are studied. Methods and Material: 101 blue-collar workers from a company in Zonguldak were participated in the study. Results: The results showed that transactional leadership is strongly associated with safety climate. As predicted, transformational leadership is found to be significantly correlated with safety participation. Conclusions: Moreover, transactional leadership is strongly correlated with safety compliance. Both safety climate and trust showed significant correlation with both of the safety outcomes. The mediating roles of trust and safety climate within the relations between transactional leadership and safety compliance and transformational leadership and safety participation are also found.

The Mediating Role of Safety Climate in the Relationship between Transformational Safety Leadership and Safe Behavior—The Case of Two Companies in Turkey and Romania

“…This result is supported by the literature showing that transformational leadership positively contributes to safe behaviours [44,55,56]. In addition, transformational leadership is the proven means of creating a safety climate in the organization, positively affecting employees' perceptions of the workplace safety climate [13,25,27,[48][49][50][51].…”

“…One of the key factors influencing the safe behavior of employees is safety leadership. Studies show that transformational leadership in safety leadership has a positive effect on the safe behavior of employees [25,59]. For example, Mullen et al [47] found in their study that transformational leadership has a positive effect on both dimensions (safety compliance and safety participation) of employees' safe behavior in young and adult participants.…”

“…For example, in a study by Zohar [27], it was found that transformational and constructive leadership had a positive effect on the safety climate, while corrective and relieving leaders had a negative impact on the safety climate. Bilgic et al [25] concluded that transformational leaders have a stronger impact on the safety climate than transactional leaders.…”

“…For example, Sadullah and Kanten [22] demonstrate a positive relationship between safety behaviors and management practices such as training on the use of personal protective equipment and safety protocols, a positive psychosocial environment and frequent maintenance and repair work (to reduce the risk of using faulty machinery and equipment). However, a limited number of studies have been conducted in the direction of safety leadership [25,26].…”

Divergent effects of transformational leadership on safety compliance: A dual-path moderated mediation model

“…This study’s primary theoretical contribution lies in its novel integration of the LMX and SRF theories to yield a nuanced picture of the relationship between transformational leadership and safety compliance in workplace safety management. Studies on safety compliance have long observed the positive effects of transformational leadership, which fosters employees’ intrinsic motivations [ 60 ], feelings of trust [ 61 ], and greater sensitivity to job-related characteristics [ 62 ]. Previous studies have also suggested a negative or non-significant effect of transformational leadership on safety compliance [ 7 , 19 ].…”