Shaping the Culture of Safety through Effective Leadership in Malaysia

Despite the enforcement of safety protocols, several workplaces and organizations still face accidents in Malaysia. SOSCO reported >34,000 workplace related accidents in 2012, 983 of which were fatal. Leadership is important when creating a culture that supports and promotes health and safety. Management and Team leaders are vital in inspiring workers to higher levels of safety consciousness and productivity, which means they must personally apply good leadership attributions daily. A ‘Safety Culture’ describes a safety management style in the workplace that reflects attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and values shared by all workers with regard to safety. The objectives of this study include raising the awareness among leaders in the workplace of their role and responsibility in the mitigation and construction of a safety culture that approaches zero incidents in the workplace. The methodology used in this paper includes a qualitative literature research on safety culture and leadership in addition to a quantitative survey that focused on safety culture at two Malaysian universities. This research thus provides an in-depth analysis and platform for organizations to identify areas of weakness and concern and can lead to further research that builds on existing systems to strengthen safety culture awareness and praxis.