Understanding perceptions of senior managers’ safety commitment

Abstract

The present study utilizes qualitative methodology to investigate how employees perceive senior managers’ commitment to safety. Fourteen participant interviews were conducted at two job sites of a national transit organization. Results suggest that a variety of sender, message, and receiver characteristics interact to impact perception formation. Participants’ descriptions of senior manager safety commitment included behaviours demonstrating engaged safety leadership, consistent safety leadership, the allocation of finances to safety, and implementation of policies and procedures that reflect a value for safety. Descriptions of a lack of safety commitment included behaviours reflecting unengaged safety leadership, inconsistent safety leadership, a neglect to allocate resources to safety, and implementation of policies and procedures that counteract the prioritization of safety. This study also investigated how employees discern the authenticity of senior manager safety commitment behaviours. Furthermore, the strongest indicators of safety commitment and lack of safety commitment are examined. Suggestions for practice and future research are discussed.