Out of sight and out of mind? A literature review of occupational safety and health leadership and management of distributed workers

Nayani, Rachel ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8753-3322, Nielsen, Karina, Daniels, Kevin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8620-886X, Donaldson-Feilder, Emma and Lewis, Rachel (2018) Out of sight and out of mind? A literature review of occupational safety and health leadership and management of distributed workers. Work & Stress, 32 (2). pp. 124-146. ISSN 0267-8373

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Abstract

Distributed workers - those who work autonomously and remotely from their organization’s main locations for at least some of their work-time, are an important and growing proportion of the workforce that share common characteristics of temporal and spatial distance. Yet many leadership styles and management practices assume face-to-face interaction, potentially rendering them less helpful in trying to ensure good occupational safety and health (OSH) outcomes for distributed workers. We conducted a systematic literature review to examine the leadership and management of OSH for distributed workers. Twenty-three papers were identified. Eleven papers identified established leadership styles, including leader-member exchange, (safety-specific) transformational and considerate leadership. Twenty papers examined management. Findings from these 20 papers were interpreted as representing resources, deployed through management and utilized by managers to ensure OSH for distributed workers, including communication technologies, social support, and a good safety climate. Despite limited research in this area, findings indicate the importance of both leadership and management in ensuring OSH for distributed workers. Findings suggest a fertile area for future enquiry.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Acknowledgements: This research is funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), grant number RC/6981
Uncontrolled Keywords:	distributed workers,leadership,management,resources,health,safety,wellbeing
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Norwich Business School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Employment Systems and Institutions
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	29 Sep 2017 05:06
Last Modified:	15 Dec 2022 02:56
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/64997
DOI:	10.1080/02678373.2017.1390797

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