Leadership empowerment behaviour on safety officer and safety teamwork in manufacturing industry

• We evaluate OH&S officer’s perceptions of leadership empowerment in manufacturing environment.
• The link between LEB to OH&S officer’s psychological empowerment is assessed.
• We first analyse the relationships between LEB, safety commitment, and POS.
• Then, we analyse the relationships between safety commitment, POS, and safety teamwork.
• Lastly, we mediate psychological empowerment with LEB and safety teamwork.

This study aims to evaluate Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Officer’s perceptions of the relationship between leadership empowerment behaviour (LEB) and psychological empowerment (PE) leading to safety teamwork with the production team. Based on the lists of competent OH&S officers exhibited in the Malaysia Ministry of Human Resource’s website, the participants were recruited. The proposed conceptual model was validated by first- and second-order confirmatory factor analysis of structural equation modelling (SEM). The results indicate a weak construct relationship between leadership empowering behaviour and officer’s psychological empowerment. Furthermore, the findings on psychological empowerment were partially mediated. A proposed strategy for further study was recommended to confirm the PE mediating effect. Overall, effective safety teamwork in the manufacturing industry relates to the officer’s psychological empowerment, safety commitment, and perceived organisational support.