Safety leadership and the project manager : competencies required to positively affect site safety culture

An arguable means to address injury and fatality rates in the Australian construction industry is the improvement of site safety culture. When understanding how safety culture is influenced, it is important to note the significant role that both management and leadership have in determining the quality of a safety culture (Barling, Loughlin & Kelloway 2002; Zohar 2002). Hence, professions such as Project Management will need to be and produce safety leaders. Focus groups were conducted with eleven of Australia’s largest construction contractors with the purpose of identifying the characteristics, competencies and attitudes required by Project Managers and other management staff to be successful safety leaders. Analyses of the results reveal the important role that safety knowledge, communication and interpersonal style have in determining the quality of safety leadership.