Leadership Style and Safety Culture in Commuter Railroads

Previous research has repeatedly demonstrated the importance of both safety culture and leadership in promoting workplace safety. Several studies and reviews have identified transformational leadership style as an important contributor to a strong safety culture. However, a transformational leadership style may not be sufficient to establish an effective safety culture in a high-risk rail transportation environment. The present study investigated the role of democratic and authoritative leadership styles and behaviors and their association with the perceived effectiveness of safety culture. Employees of a mid-sized rail transportation company in the Eastern US completed a survey assessing leadership behaviors and safety culture. Correlational analyses revealed strong associations between leadership practices and behaviors, and employees’ perceptions of an effective organizational safety culture. Strong senior management commitment and a focus on educating employees to behave in accordance with predetermined safety procedures were also significantly associated with a perceived effective safety culture. Authoritative leadership behaviors were highly positively correlated with effectiveness, while democratic leadership behaviors were less strongly correlated. Moreover, the odds of the safety culture being perceived as effective were increased if authoritative rather than democratic leadership behaviors were exhibited. The results of the present study are both expected and unexpected considering the previous literature, adding to prior work by clarifying the leadership style most effective in a high-risk rail transportation work environment.