Safety leadership training effectiveness evaluation on behavior change among large-herd U.S. dairy farm supervisors

Abstract: Background:Prior research suggests leaderbased
interventions are considered to have a much stronger
influence on worker safety behavior and climate than
worker-based interventions. However, no prior research has
evaluated training effectiveness of safety-specific leadership
skill development for front-line supervisors on dairy farms.
A tailored safety leadership training program targeting dairy
farm supervisors was developed, delivered, and evaluated
for its training effect on the supervisor’s safety leadership
behavior. Methods: A 12-module safety leadership training
program was developed and delivered in an asynchronous
format using e-learning methods to 73 dairy farm supervisors,
representing 30 farms across five western U.S. states. We
employed the Kirkpatrick Model to evaluate different levels
of training effectiveness. Findings: Evaluation of knowledge
gained among participants revealed significant differences
between pre- and post-test scores with medium to very large
learning effect sizes across all training modules, particularly
with training modules addressing safety culture, workplace
conflict, and safety meetings. Safety leadership behavior
change evaluation revealed significant pre-post training
effects across most training modules, particularly regarding
safety dialogue, hazard assessment, safety modeling, and
conducting safety meetings. Conclusions: Our findings
suggest that safety leadership training can result in essential
leadership behavior change among front-line dairy farm
supervisors. Application to Practice: This study provides
many insights into the successful implementation of a safety
leadership training program in a challenging industrial
sector (rural/remote workplaces, immigrant workforce), as
well as training effectiveness evaluation using novel data
collection methodology. Additional research is needed on the
effectiveness and sustainability of safety leadership training
in high-risk industrial sectors such as agriculture.