Developing a situational judgement test (SJT) for safety-minded leadership in high-hazard industries

Safety-specific transformational leadership (SSTFL) is a critical factor in fostering a proactive safety culture by encouraging both compliance and initiative among employees. However, traditional leadership assessments often fail to capture the unique competencies required for effective safety leadership in high-hazard industries. While general self-report personality tests have been used to predict future leadership behaviors, tools for specifically assessing SSTFL are limited. To address this gap, the current study developed and evaluated a Situational Judgement Test (SJT) designed to predict safety-minded leadership behaviors.

Using a two-wave study with a sample of participants with management experience in high-hazard industries, the study employed a 2 (honest vs. incentivized faking) × 2 (basic vs. disarming instructions) between-subjects design to refine the assessment tool and mitigate social desirability bias. Following item reduction, the final 15-item SJT demonstrated acceptable internal consistency, reasonable test-retest reliability, and positive correlation with another safety leadership measure.

Results indicated that instruction type and response condition did significantly influence scores in the preliminary list of SJT items, but not the revised version, supporting the robustness of the final 15-item measure. SJT Scores from Wave 1 were also predictive of self-reported safety behaviors at Wave 2 above and beyond other variables. By integrating realistic workplace scenarios, behaviorally anchored response options, and minimizing socially desirable responding, this SJT provides a promising tool for assessing safety behavior and what managers would choose to do, rather than their knowledge of what should be done. Future research and applications for organizational settings are discussed.