A Comparative Study of Leadership Styles and their Influence on Safety-Related Behaviors in the Construction Industry of Chennai

Abstract

Construction is intrinsically hazardous; thus, safety becomes very crucial and impacts directly on the welfare of the workers and the performance of a project. It analyses how three different categories of leadership styles, transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire style, influence safety-related behaviors among employees in Chennai's construction industry. The study aims at discussing the leadership styles with safety compliance to identify significant behavioral trends, problems, and enablers in the industry's safety practices. This paper outlines the relevance of transformational leadership in encouraging proactive safety behaviors and a wholesome safety culture among construction firms, based on mixed methods where surveys and interviews conducted by practitioners in the construction sector were considered. While transactional leadership is very good at ensuring compliance is achieved, it falls short of what is necessary for long-term behavioral change. Laissez-faire leadership has emerged as a risky trend due to the lack of active involvement in safety management. The results recommend that construction stakeholders need to build leadership skills, and policies will have to be adopted according to the specifics of the industry. Apart from these, this review has analyzed a total of 60 existing studies.