The use of supervisory practices as leverage to improve safety behavior: A cross-level intervention model

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Abstract

Introduction: The paper presents three intervention studies designed to modify supervisory monitoring and rewarding of subordinates' safety performance. Method: Line supervisors received weekly feedback concerning the frequency of their safety-oriented interactions with subordinates, and used this to self-monitor progress toward designated improvement goals. Managers higher up in the organizational hierarchy received the same information, coupled with synchronous data concerning the frequency of workers' safety behaviors, and highlighting co-variation of supervisory action and workers' behavior. Results: In all the companies involved, supervisory safety-oriented interaction increased significantly, resulting in significant changes in workers' safety behavior and safety climate scores. Continued improvement during the post-intervention period suggests the inclusion of workers' safety behavior as in-role supervisory responsibility. Applied and theoretical implications are discussed.

Section snippets

General procedure

During the 2-month period prior to intervention, baseline rates of safety-oriented supervisory interaction and workers' safety behavior were established in each company. The 4-month follow-up period covered a sufficiently long period for modified supervisory practices to have become normative, reflecting modified supervisory role definitions. In Company A, safety climate questionnaires were administered during work-hours one month before and two months after intervention.

The intervention phase

Measures

Safety-related supervisory interactions were measured with the following ESM items: (a) A single-sentence description of work-related activities over the previous two hours; (b) A yes/no question, as to whether there had been verbal/non-verbal interaction with the supervisor during the previous two hours; (c) If yes, the main subjects of interaction had to be marked on a short, empirically derived checklist (i.e., productivity, quality, safety, other); and (d) If the interaction was verbal, the

Company A: an oil refinery

The participants in the first project were 121 line workers and 13 shop-floor supervisors in an oil refinery where imported crude oil is upgraded and canned for national distribution. The workforce was all-male, average age 33.9 (SD = 6.2), and average plant tenure 6.1 years (SD = 5.8). The all-male supervisory personnel were older (average age = 44.2, SD = 5.1) and with longer tenure (average tenure = 10.4, SD = 5.2). The plant has two main sections: (a) oil refining and upgrading, and (b)

General discussion

The studies described above were designed to test supervisory-level intervention using ongoing interaction between shop-floor supervisors and subordinates as leverage for modifying workers' behavior. This intervention is based on the idea that supervisory monitoring and contingent rewarding (or punishing) will modify the cost/benefits ratio associated with safety behavior, which is initially biased against safe behavior in routine work situations. The interventions consisted of providing

Summary and conclusions

The present research suggests that the hierarchical nature of organizations allows for behavioral safety interventions at the supervisory level (i.e., above the shop-floor level where injuries occur). This implies that complementary interventions can be conducted concurrently at several hierarchical levels. Furthermore, the organizational context must be better integrated in intervention programs, taking into consideration that changes taking place at any hierarchical level must be supported by

Dov Zohar earned his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland. He is an Associate Professor of I/O Psychology at the Faculty of Management, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Dov Zohar has published articles on two aspects of occupational health, i.e. safety climate and occupational stress and burnout. His current climate research includes the study of factors influencing climate formation and strength, climate measurement methodology, and climate-based intervention methods. Current

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    Dov Zohar earned his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland. He is an Associate Professor of I/O Psychology at the Faculty of Management, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Dov Zohar has published articles on two aspects of occupational health, i.e. safety climate and occupational stress and burnout. His current climate research includes the study of factors influencing climate formation and strength, climate measurement methodology, and climate-based intervention methods. Current stress-research projects include experience-sampling measurement of goal-disruptive and goal-enhancing events at work, focusing on cognitive energy as moderator of affective reaction.

    Gil Luria is a Ph.D. candidate at the Faculty of Management, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, and is a staff member at the Research Center for Work Safety and Human Engineering at the Technion. Gil Luria's research involved various factors influencing safety climate in manufacturing industries and army field-units, including interventions designed to improve climate as leverage for safety-behavior improvement. His current research includes multi-level climate measurement and cross-level effects, and the influence of managerial scripts on organizational climate.

    Financial support for this work was provided by the Prevention Research Unit, Ministry of Labor and Welfare, Jerusalem. We thank the managers and line workers in participating companies who have offered us their collaboration in so many ways.

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