Safety-Specific Passive-Avoidant Leadership and Safety Compliance among Chinese Steel Workers: The Moderating Role of Safety Moral Belief and Organizational Size

Abstract

Despite the documented relationship between active-approaching leadership behaviors and workplace safety, few studies have addressed whether and when passive-avoidant leadership affects safety behavior. This study examined the relationship between two types of safety-specific passive-avoidant leadership, i.e., safety-specific leader reward omission (SLRO) and safety-specific leader punishment omission (SLPO), and safety compliance, as well as the moderating effects of an individual difference (safety moral belief) and an organizational difference (organizational size) in these relationships. These predictions were tested on a sample of 704 steel workers in China. The results showed that, although both SLRO and SLPO are negatively related to safety compliance, SLPO demonstrated a greater effect than SLRO. Moreover, we found that steel workers with high levels of safety moral belief were more resistant to the negative effects of SLRO and SLPO on safety compliance. Although steel workers in large enterprises were more resistant to the negative effects of SLPO than those in small enterprises, the SLRO-compliance relationship is not contingent upon organizational size. The current study enriched the safety leadership literature by demonstrating the detrimental and relative effects of two types of safety-specific passive-avoidant leadership on safety compliance and by identifying two boundary conditions that can buffer these relationships among steel workers.

Safety Participation on Industrial Company: Emphasize Safety Leadership and Safety Climate with Safety Knowledge as Mediation

“…If the leader has good safety leadership, then most likely his employees are also good safety knowledge. In safety leadership, leaders must be responsible to their employees to have the necessary knowledge, confidence and awareness to do work safely and comfortably to reduce the risk of accidents in the workplace (Stiawan, 2024) Safety leadership is the responsibility of leaders in supporting the development of policies and practices that create safer societies (L. Liu et al, 2021) Therefore, leaders must have expertise in fostering a work safety culture within the company that is useful for the formation of active workers and initiatives to prioritize safety in every activity.…”

The Effect of Safety Leadership on Safety Participation of Employee: A Meta-Analysis

“… Jiang and Probst (2016) found that STFL strengthened SP whereas SPL weakened it. In a recent study from China, safety-specific passive-avoidant leadership negatively affects the safety compliance behavior, which is not conducive to the safety environment of enterprises ( Liu et al, 2021 ). Therefore, we similarly expected that:…”