Transforming Safety Culture through The Integration of Effective Communication and Safety Leadership in High-Risk Industries

Abstract

Safety culture in high-risk industries is often managed through procedures, compliance systems, and visible leadership programs; however, these mechanisms do not automatically become shared workplace values. This study examined how effective safety communication and safety leadership could be integrated to transform safety culture and support operational excellence in an oleochemical manufacturing company. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed. Quantitative data from 421 respondents were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with LISREL, followed by in-depth interviews and focus group discussions analyzed using MAXQDA. The measurement model demonstrated satisfactory construct reliability and convergent validity. Safety communication had a strong and significant direct effect on safety culture (? = 0.724, p < 0.001), whereas the direct effect of safety leadership was not statistically significant (? = 0.129, p = 0.058). Safety culture significantly supported operational excellence (? = 0.438, p < 0.001), and the integrated model explained 87.2% of the variance in safety culture and 91.3% of the variance in operational excellence. Qualitative findings showed that leadership remained culturally central; however, its influence weakened when communication was formalistic, one-way, emotionally detached, or inconsistently implemented by second-line leaders. The study therefore positioned communication as the mechanism that transformed leadership intentions and role modeling into shared meaning, trust, feedback, and sustained safe behaviors. It proposed Personalized Safety Communication, consisting of direct personalized communication, escort communication, and direct impact communication, as a practical framework for integrating leadership visibility with dialogic, contextual, and empathetic safety communication.