Transformational and passive leadership as cross-level moderators of the relationships between safety knowledge, safety motivation, and safety participation

•This study used multilevel modeling with a sample of 171 employees nested in 40 workgroups.•We found that transformational safety leadership strengthened the safety knowledge–participation relationship.•However, under low transformational leadership, safety motivation was not related to safety participation.•We also found that passive leadership weakened the safety motivation–participation relationship.•However, under high passive leadership, safety knowledge was not related to safety participation.

IntroductionWhile safety knowledge and safety motivation are well-established predictors of safety participation, less is known about the impact of leadership styles on these relationships.MethodThe purpose of the current study was to examine whether the positive relationships between safety knowledge and motivation and safety participation are contingent on transformational and passive forms of safety leadership.ResultsUsing multilevel modeling with a sample of 171 employees nested in 40 workgroups, we found that transformational safety leadership strengthened the safety knowledge–participation relationship, whereas passive leadership weakened the safety motivation–participation relationship.ConclusionsUnder low transformational leadership, safety motivation was not related to safety participation; under high passive leadership, safety knowledge was not related to safety participation.Practical ApplicationsThese results are discussed in light of organizational efforts to increase safety-related citizenship behaviors.