Authentic leadership and its relationship with risk perception and safety climate

Purpose – This study aims to examine how authentic leadership relates to risk perception in safety critical organizations (SCOs). It is hypothesized that authentic leaders influence risk perception through the mediating effect of safety climate. Design/methodology/approach – Using a survey design, the variables were assessed in a cross‐sectional sample of 293 offshore oil installation workers from a single company. Findings – The authors’ findings show that follower ratings of authentic leadership are negatively related to risk perception and positively associated with ratings of safety climate. Controlling for personality characteristics and leadership responsibility among respondents, the results confirm the hypothesis in that safety climate mediates the relationship between authentic leadership and risk perception. Safety climate had the strongest relationship with risk perception when assessed as a higher order construct. Originality/value – This study is one of the first to investigate the relationship between authentic leadership and safety. The results indicate that authentic leadership and safety climate are important factors that relate to risk perception in SCOs. The authors’ findings suggest that SCOs should consider recruiting and developing authentic leaders to foster positive safety climates and risk management.