Paradoxical safety leadership: Conceptualization and measurement

Should leaders embrace paradoxes and tensions?

This study developed a paradoxical safety leadership (PSL) construct.

Extracts:

· PSL is a “multidimensional construct that consists of seemingly contradictory yet interrelated leader behaviors to meet competing goals and demands in safety management”

· It integrates a “both-and approach to organizational tensions” to effectively manage “salient competing demands arising from the efficiency-thoroughness paradox in the safety context”

· They argue that existing leadership constructs instead approach an either/or view on competing tensions, like, emphasising safety or productivity, and driven by a a “safety-first mentality” which, in today’s dynamic workplaces “may complicate and even threaten organizational safety”

· Their PSL concept is guided by paradox theory & leadership, and from the ETTO principle (Efficiency Thoroughness Trade-off)

· The importance of embracing tensions and paradoxes is evident, where “safety management is rife in organizational tensions, and failing to manage these tensions has devastating consequences for organizations … [like with major accidents] where organizations have failed to balance competing goals, such as profitability and safety”

· PSL has four core dimensions: “(1) placing an emphasis on both production and safety; (2) enforcing safety compliance while allowing flexibility; (3) bridging upper management safety requirements versus frontline safety needs and requests; and (4) balancing time in the office and the time spent with employees in the field”

· Notably, PSL “can predict employee safety performance over and above general leadership… safety leadership… and existing paradoxical leadership construct”

· And it can “predict employee safety motivation and supervisor-rated safety performance over and above perceived safety climate”

· Among various leadership constructs, PSL was found to be “the most important predictor for safety participation and safety voice”

· PSL offers an “alternative perspective to the role of leaders in addressing tensions in safety management and can help transform current safety practices that focuses on safety prioritization”

· ◦ Leadership Development: Organizations “can design PSL programs that train leaders to recognize the tensions and teach them specific personal strategies to manage such paradoxes more effectively”

· “supplementing the dominant perspective of safety first with additional integration strategies can improve long-term safety outcomes”

· PSL can play an important role in “alleviating these negative experiences and helping workers manage safety and production pressures”

Ref: Hu, X., Jiang, L., Willis, S., Casey, T., & Wu, C. H. (2025). Paradoxical safety leadership: Conceptualization and measurement. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 46(1), 66-89.