Effect of dairy farm supervisor leadership training on workplace safety climate

Background: Assessment of workplace safety climate is a recognized approach to assess safe culture in an organization. We developed, implemented, and evaluated a 12-module safety leadership and management e-learning training program tailored for front-line dairy farm supervisors and hypothesized that such a training program would have a positive effect on occupational safety climate. Methods: We enrolled 103 dairy farm supervisors from 35 U.S. farms to participate in a 12-module dairy leadership training program. We assessed safety climate change among supervisors and their workers using a pre-post training intervention methodology. A 24-item, 8-factor safety climate survey was developed and completed pre- and post-training by 65 supervisors and 313 (pre) and 238 (post) workers under their supervision. Findings: Significant improvements were seen on the 14-item supervisor safety climate scale, the 10-item group safety climate scale, and subscales regarding safety priority, empowerment, and dealing with conflicts. No significant improvements were seen for the factor regarding leaders encouraging workers to report safety incidents, as these were already rated highly. Conclusions: Findings suggest safety leadership e-learning training among dairy farm supervisors can result in positive safety climate change among supervisors and subordinate workers. Application to Practice: This study provides a framework for researchers, safety professionals, and training developers for the successful implementation of a safety leadership training program, and its effect on safety climate. Additional research is needed on the effectiveness and sustainability of safety leadership training in high-risk industrial sectors such as agriculture.