Over the past five years Â鶹ÊÓƵ has sponsored a world-class research team from the fields of psychology and occupational health to investigate safety leadership in the construction industry. A survey of more than 1,000 plumbers and pipefitters uncovered some important clues.

When supervisors reward safe behavior or punish unsafe behavior, they engage in what psychologists call "transactional leadership." They are striking a deal with employees: if I get something I want, you will get something you want. This kind of leadership did lead to some improvements, but it wasn't the most important kind.

Supervisors whom workers admired for their character, intelligence and skills could exercise much more powerful "transformational leadership." That is, when trades employees saw a foreman they admired making safety a top priority, the workers began to make safety a higher priority as well.  

That matches my experience. Other Â鶹ÊÓƵ studies have shown that incentive programs that reward crews with prizes for safe work can actually discourage workers from reporting injuries when they do happen. This new study suggests that construction workers are motivated better by role models than by rewards for accident-free days.  

appears in the February 2014 edition of Safety Science.