Supervisory Safety Practices in the Work-Related Driving Context

Presenter: Dr Sharon Newnam Co-authors: Dr Ioni Lewis and Professor Barry Watson

Overview

• Research program

• Leadership intervention

• Broader safety intervention

Extent of the Problem

• Light vehicles

• Most common cause of injury and death in the workplace

• Highest fatalities of occupational groups

• Higher crash frequency than non-work related drivers

Theoretical development

• Individual and organisational predictors

• Supervisors play pivotal role in influencing safety outcomes

• Supervisory safety practices (SSP)– Frequency of safety-oriented interactions

The work-related driving context

• Limitations– Visibility– Collection of objective information – Appropriate feedback

• Safety-related interactions– Safe driving message – Safety reminder – Time management scheduling to avoid unsafe driving

Theoretical framework

• Integrated within the broader safety context

• Key factors influencing safety performance

– Perceptions of the safety climate – The quality of the exchange relationship

[Leader-Member Exchange (LMX] – Perceived role overload

Conceptual model

Supervisor Level

Safety climate perceptions

Driver level

Supervisory safety practices

LMX Self-report driving behavior

Role overload

Methodology• Longitudinal design

– Three month intervention (pre and post surveys)– 6 time points of monitoring SSP

• Multi-method design

– Supervisors (safety climate)– Drivers nested within supervisory workgroups– Community oriented nurses

Stages of data collection

Distribution of surveys

Time two: monitoring of supervisory safety practices

Distribution of surveysTime 1 Time 2 Time 3 Time 6Time 5Time 4

Time one Time three

Sample

• Community-oriented nurses

• Pre-intervention: 105 drivers matched to 22 supervisors

• Post-intervention: Supervisory safety practices matched to 85 drivers

• 61% of the sample was retained

Demographics

• Drivers – 90% female, 46 years old, 244 km/week

• Supervisors– 95% female, 8.5 years tenure in agency

Analyses

• H1 – Preacher and Hayes (2008) method for

testing the indirect effects in multiple mediator models

• H2/H3– Hierarchical linear modelling to test the cross-

level relationship and cross-level interaction

Results

Supervisor Level

Safety climate perceptions

Driver level

Supervisory safety practices

LMX Self-report driving behavior

Work overload

Interaction effects

Low climate High climate4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

11.0

12.0

13.0

Chart Title

Low overload

High overload

Safety climate

Superv

isory

safe

ty p

ract

ices

Conclusions• Quality of the exchange relationship and safe

driving behaviour– Drivers reciprocate valued behaviours based on the

attention given to SSP

• The influence of role overload on the safety climate SSP relationship– Acknowledge the role of supervisors in the safety

management of drivers– Deleterious effects of role overload

Questions?s.newnam@qut.edu.au

Mark your Diaries!

International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety Conference (ICADTS T2013)

August 2013, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre