Safety Leadership Training: Implementation and Effectiveness Evaluation in the Dairy Farm Industry

Evidence-based interventions for the prevention of safety incidents at work are most effective when they include a focus on the hierarchy of controls. However, prior studies addressing the effects of safety leadership and safety climate are limited. The determination and adoption of evidence-based interventions specifically in the U.S. Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishing (AgFF) sector can be a challenge, and prior studies have shown a paucity of evidence-based occupational safety and health practices in the AgFF sector.

We enrolled 73 dairy farm supervisors from 27 U.S. farms to participate in a 12-module dairy leadership training program. We employed the Kirkpatrick Model (KM) to evaluate different levels of training effectiveness.

Participant reactions to the program were positive (KM level 1), and evaluation of knowledge gained among participants revealed 90% had learned new safety leadership information (KM level 2) that could be applied in their role as a dairy farm supervisor (KM level 3). Nearly 88% reported favorable experiences during their training participation. Post-training group interviews with supervisors (n = 21) provided information regarding training experiences and constructive feedback regarding opportunities for training improvement. Behavior change evaluation revealed nearly 50% of observed safety hazards on farms were related to livestock handling (21.6%), trips/falls (17.1%), and moving machinery (10.4%). The largest percentage of observed workplace conflicts were verbal (27.8%).

The application of the Kirkpatrick Model of training evaluation suggests participating dairy farm supervisors had positive experiences with the training program, and acquired safety hazard and workplace conflict identification skills.