The effect of workers' visibility on effectiveness of intervention programs: Supervisory-based safety interventions

Introduction: This paper discusses an organizational change intervention program targeting safety behaviors and addresses important considerations concerning the planning of organizational change. Using layout of the plant as a proxy for ease of daily leader-member interaction, the effect of workers' visibility on the effectiveness of supervisory-based safety (SBS) interventions is examined. Through a reinforcement-learning framework, it is suggested that visibility can affect supervisors' incentive to interact with subordinates regarding safety-related issues. Method: Data were collected during SBS intervention studies in five manufacturing companies. Results: Results suggest a reinforcement cycle model whereby increased visibility generates more frequent exchanges between supervisors and employees, resulting in improved safety behavior among employees. In turn, employees' safer behavior reinforces continued supervisory safety-related interaction. Conclusion and impact on industry: Visibility is an important moderator in supervisory based safety interventions, and can serve to increase workplace safety. Implications of these findings for safety are discussed.