Leading the way to a safer workplace: What helps supervisors adopt a people-centered approach that enhances their employees' workplace safety behaviours?

In a world where millions are injured or killed every year at work, the question of how to make workplaces safer has never been more urgent.

According to the International Labour Organization, nearly three million workers die each year due to job-related accidents and illnesses, and hundreds of millions suffer non-fatal injuries. These tragedies bring not only human costs but also financial and reputational damage to organizations —from lawsuits and insurance spikes to lost productivity and morale.

New research from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University and South China University of Technology sheds light on a crucial but often overlooked part of the solution: leadership style.

Specifically, the study’s authors highlight the power of servant leadership — a people-centered approach where leaders prioritize the well-being and development of their teams — to foster safer workplaces.

Servant leadership differs from more traditional leadership styles in that it focuses less on performance outcomes and more on caring for others and the broader community.

“It’s about putting others’ needs ahead of your own,” says Yu-Shan Hsu, assistant professor of management at the John Molson School. Hsu’s co-authors include Yu-Ping Chen, associate professor; and Alexandra Panaccio, professor, at John Molson and Hongli Wang at South China University of Technology.

The authors surveyed 167 supervisor-subordinate pairs across multiple industries in Canada, including both high-risk sectors like construction and aerospace and lower-risk fields like banking and education.

The study found that servant leadership plays a direct role in boosting employee safety behaviours — both compliance (following safety rules) and participation (voluntarily helping colleagues and suggesting safety improvements).

Importantly, the study identifies three key factors that give rise to servant leadership in the workplace:

1. A strong motivation to help others
2. The ability to understand others' perspectives
3. A work environment that fosters collaboration and teamwork

These three elements function as precursors to servant leadership, laying the psychological and social foundation from which it naturally emerges.

Using the well-established Motivation-Ability-Opportunity (MAO) framework, the researchers show that when these elements are in place, individuals are more likely to develop servant leadership tendencies. In turn, this style of leadership creates safer, more cooperative environments where employees feel empowered to take initiative and look out for one another.

This connection is also supported by Social Information Processing theory, which suggests that employees observe and model the behaviour of their leaders. If a supervisor consistently demonstrates care, concern and commitment to safety, those values are picked up by the team and reflected in their actions.

So, what does this mean for employers?

For starters, organizations should think carefully about who they place in leadership roles.

“It’s not enough to promote based on technical skill or tenure,” says Hsu.

Instead, traits like prosocial motivation and empathic thinking should be part of hiring and promotion criteria. Tools like situational judgment tests can help assess these softer — but critical — leadership attributes.

Beyond recruitment, training programs can also cultivate servant leadership. Guided writing exercises that prompt reflection on helping others, or role-playing scenarios that build empathy and perspective-taking, are cost-effective tools that enhance leadership development.

In addition, reshaping incentives to reward team success rather than just individual accomplishments can reinforce the collaborative spirit that fuels servant leadership.

Visibility also matters. Frequent, direct interaction between supervisors and employees — through check-ins, safety huddles or informal conversations — amplifies the impact of servant leadership. These moments of connection help embed safety as a shared organizational value rather than just a compliance checkbox.

While workplace hazards may never be eliminated entirely, this new research makes a compelling case: servant leadership offers a promising, human-centered path toward safer work environments.

By fostering motivation to help others, encouraging perspective-taking, and creating collaborative environments, organizations can pave the way for safer, more supportive workplaces where safety becomes a shared priority.