How Emotionally Intelligent Leaders Drive Safety Performance

In the evolving world of work, leaders are pivotal to the development and maintenance of workplace culture. A leader’s actions tell employees what the company values and deems appropriate behavior, such as safety-focused leadership conveying value in employee wellbeing. At the core of safety leadership are the emotional intelligence (EI) skills that guide the way a leader views and evaluates safety.

Safety in this context describes both physical safety and psychological well-being. Physical safety aims to reduce the physical, biological, chemical, ergonomic, and environmental workplace hazards that cause physical harm or adverse effects¹. Psychological health, defined as mental, emotional, and social wellbeing, aims to reduce employee stress and burnout by mitigating psychological hazards such as high workload, lack of support or inclusion, workplace violence, harassment, or injustice².

When thinking about safety-focused behaviors, there are two main categories to examine: safety compliance (adhering to mandated safety procedures) and safety participation (voluntary safety behaviors such as promoting workplace safety and helping coworkers perform safely)³. It is the engagement in active participation (via EI skills) that separates safety obligation from safety leadership. While organizations may use checklists to fulfill safety requirements, such as ensuring emergency equipment is functional and mental health training is provided, these alone do not ensure a safe workplace⁴. Leaders with high EI can elevate these obligatory efforts into a dedication to continuous improvement.

So why does safety in the workplace matter­—apart from obviously keeping people healthy? Psychological and physical safety boosts ROI by enhancing employee engagement, productivity, and retention while reducing healthcare costs and legal issues. A safe environment also fosters innovation and improves an organization’s reputation⁵.

Understanding hazards: Risk, prevention, and the role of leadership

The benefits of mitigating risk and preventing harm will always exceed the costs of treating harm that has already occurred. A healthy workplace has positive outcomes for both the individual (e.g., increased job satisfaction, commitment, and engagement, and decreased stress and burnout) and the organization (e.g., increased productivity and decreased turnover, disability claims, and insurance costs)⁵.

While we usually think about physical safety hazards in physically demanding industries (e.g., aviation, construction, or nuclear power), these hazards also exist in “less dangerous” workplaces, such as:

• Chemical exposure in research labs
• Posture concerns and slippery floors in cubicle and traditional office buildings
• Eye strain or noise pollution among computer programmers

Psychological health hazards are also prevalent in every industry. These hazards can either result in psychological harm or impair performance leading to additional accidents, such as:

• Forklift operators experiencing stress or depression due to harassment from a supervisor
• Nurses’ fatigue leading to errors in patient care
• Leaders encountering burnout due to long work hours

While the objective benefits are clear, what motivates safe employee behavior, and the development of safety systems is a positive safety culture—an organizational culture that prioritizes safety. Leaders can drive safety culture by demonstrating a commitment to safety, valuing employee health, and encouraging incident reporting. Any organizational leader can engage in safety leadership when they speak of safety, act safe at work, focus on maintaining safety standards, engage others in safety initiatives, and recognize individuals’ adherence to safety⁶.

Building safer workplaces with EI

Research has shown that people with strong EI skills tend to do better in their jobs⁷, are more likely to follow safety rules, and actively contribute to a safer workplace⁸. Individuals with high EI scores are also less likely to cut corners and engage in unsafe work practices⁹. MHS’ Emotional Quotient-Inventory 2.0^® (EQ-i 2.0^® ) measures EI by providing a Total EI score, which is derived from five composite scores that measure distinct aspects of emotional and social functioning. These five composite scores are based on 15 subscales that focus on EI skills critical to workplace success, including:

• Self-Perception: Recognizing and understanding how inner emotions affect thoughts and actions (Self-Regard, Self-Actualization, Emotional Self-Awareness)
• Self-Expression: The outward expression of perceived emotions (Emotional Expression, Assertiveness, Independence)
• Interpersonal: Developing and maintaining relationships through trust, empathy, and a concern for others (Interpersonal Relationships, Empathy, Social Responsibility)
• Decision Making: Understanding and managing the impact emotions have on decision making (Problem Solving, Reality Testing, Impulse Control)
• Stress Management: Coping with the emotions of change while remaining resilient (Flexibility, Stress tolerance, Optimism)

Here are three key ways highly developed EI skills contribute to workplace safety:

Taking the stress out of stressful situations

Workplace stress occurs anytime the demands of a situation are greater than the resources available¹⁰. Sources of stress for leaders range from high responsibility and exposure to challenges to maintaining their reputation and relationships with others¹¹. A safety-focused leader may encounter stressful situations that:

• Threaten their own safety (e.g., an aggressive colleague),
• Threaten the safety of others (e.g., a colleague not using proper safety equipment),
• Create a changing environment (e.g., an ongoing company merger),
• Or create risky conditions that remain hidden until triggered by other events (e.g., understaffing that reduces patient supervision).

During stressful situations, EQ-i 2.0 subscales that measure certain facets of EI can act as a resource in a few ways:

• Emotional Expression – Discussing stressful experiences with colleagues for support
• Flexibility – Knowing how to switch their focus as a situation evolves
• Stress Tolerance – Focusing on the current task through high tension
• Optimism – Approaching safety concerns and the individuals involved with a positive view

The Stress Management composite scale of the EQ-i 2.0 encourages individuals to notice and manage the emotions that come with change. Leaders need to take charge and resolve safety issues even when physical or interpersonal tensions are high. They must adapt to evolving safety situations and approach issues with a hopeful vision, even during uncertain times. One study of container terminal workers concluded that having higher EI reduced the effect of job stress on employees’ safety behaviors, with EI having a larger impact on safety participation than safety compliance⁸. These results suggest that leaders under stress can use EI skills to evaluate their emotions, think more clearly, and prioritize safety in demanding situations.

Becoming a better leader: Managing emotions for safer decisions

As decision makers, leaders need to make objective evaluations of the issue at hand, consider the consequences for relevant stakeholders, and appraise how their decision will be viewed by their team and as a representative of their organization. These actions require a leader’s perception of their own emotions and biases that affect decision making (referencing the Self-Perception composite scale) and managing how these emotions affect their decisions (referencing the Decision Making composite scale).

Effective safety leadership often involves risk assessment and hazard identification. These tasks can involve time-consuming analysis or snap evaluations in the moment, both of which present challenges to achieving goals in a timely and safe way. In one study of 268 emergency professionals, high EI skills were found to enhance both rational (logical and structured) and intuitive (using mental shortcuts based on past experiences and feelings) decision-making styles, both valid decision-making methods¹². While making decisions based on previous experiences can be useful to reduce cognitive demands, cognitive bias can result in ineffective safety decision making. EI skills (especially emotional self-awareness, problem-solving, impulse control, and stress tolerance) can reduce cognitive bias by encouraging leaders to evaluate whether they’re only seeing one perspective or taking their own thoughts and emotions as fact¹³.

Employing EI skills based on the EQ-i 2.0 subscales can also improve decision making via:

• Emotional Self-Awareness – Recognizing the emotions experienced during decision-making
• Problem Solving – Evaluating whether emotions, and which emotions, are influencing decision-making
• Reality Testing – Questioning whether your assumptions and information used to make decisions are true
• Impulse Control – Being thoughtful about decisions while making space for intuitive decision-making when needed

Influencing others: Enhancing safety through connection and understanding

A leader’s commitment to safety is only effective if their team members share their views. This transfer of values involves communicating their safety beliefs, instilling the value of safety in others, and encouraging others to engage in safe work through their Self-Expression and Interpersonal Relationships (both composite scales of the EQ-i 2.0).

EI improves a leader’s ability to effectively communicate with their team. A leader can build trust by sharing their thoughts and feelings and transparently discussing decisions with team members, thereby improving safety culture. Trust produces a psychologically safe environment where others feel safe bringing up safety concerns (e.g., accidents) and well-being issues (anxiety) without fear of negative repercussions¹⁴.

Leaders use communication and connection to improve safety in many ways:

• Emotional expression – Discussing how and why you value safety with others
• Assertiveness – Enforcing safety in an assertive but constructive manner
• Independence – Acting and making decisions when others cannot or don’t have the expertise
• Empathy – Appreciating others’ experiences and approaching incidents with a focus on continuous improvement rather than blame
• Social Responsibility – Acting as a safety role model, acting in a moral and ethical manner, and showing concern for the welfare of others

EI is crucial to engagement in safety leadership—and it’s a trainable skill. Individuals interested in strengthening their EI skills can learn more about the factors of EI here. Leaders interested in their current EI proficiency can participate in assessment and coaching programs using MHS’ EQ-i 2.0. Click here to view our list of partners and trainers who leverage the EQ-i 2.0 in their work. By learning and practicing these skills, leaders can transform their safety values into actionable behavior for a physically and psychologically safer workplace.

Have questions? Get in touch with a member of our team.

References

¹ Government of Canada, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. (2024, June 17). Hazards.

² Government of Canada (2017, January 30). Psychological health in the workplace.

³ Neal, A., Griffin, M., & Hart, P. (2000). The impact of organizational climate on safety climate and individual behavior. Safety Science, 34(1), 99–109.

⁴ Day, A., Fisher, M., & Shaw, J. (expected 2025). Chapter 14: Moving beyond buzzwords to best practices: Health promotion in psychologically healthy workplaces. In E. K. Kelloway, J. Barling, & K. Nielsen (Eds.), Work & Health.

⁵ Grawitch, M., Gottschalk, M., & Munz, D. (2006). The path to a healthy workplace: A critical review linking healthy workplace practices, employee well-being, and organizational improvements. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 58(3), 129–147.

⁶ Wong, J. H. K., Kelloway, E. K., & Makhan, D. W. (2016). Safety leadership. In S. Clarke, T. M. Probst, F. Guldenmund, & J. Passmore (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell handbook of the psychology of occupational safety and workplace health (pp. 83–110). Wiley Blackwell.

⁷ Carmeli, A., & Josman, Z. E. (2006). The relationship among emotional intelligence, task performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Human Performance, 19(4), 403–419.

⁸ Lu, C.-S., & Kuo, S.-Y. (2016). The effect of job stress on self-reported safety behaviour in container terminal operations: The moderating role of emotional intelligence. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 37, 10–26.

⁹ Olawoyin, R. (2018). Emotional intelligence: Assessing its importance in safety leadership. Professional Safety, 63(8), 41–47.

¹⁰ Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The Job Demands‐Resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309–328.

¹¹ Harms, P. D., Credé, M., Tynan, M., Leon, M., & Jeung, W. (2017). Leadership and stress: A meta-analytic review. The Leadership Quarterly, 28(1), 178–194.

¹² Dilawar, S. M., Durrani, D. K., Li, X., & Anjum, M. A. (2021). Decision-making in highly stressful emergencies: The interactive effects of trait emotional intelligence. Current Psychology, 40(6), 2988–3005.

¹³ Hersing, W. S. (2017). Managing cognitive bias in safety decision making: Application of emotional intelligence competencies. Journal of Space Safety Engineering, 4(3), 124–128.

¹⁴ Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383.