The Relationship between Leadership Support and Injury Risks: Motivation for Improving Safety Climate and Safety Culture

摘要

This document details analyses that have been conducted to characterize the relationship between injury risks, physical fitness, and Soldier responses to survey questions regarding leadership support for injury prevention. Among a population of 831 Infantry Soldiers, a reported lack of leadership support for injury prevention was found to be significantly associated with higher injury risk (p0.05). For example, respondents who reported that leadership rarely provided the status of unit injuries had more than double the odds of injury compared to those who said their leadership routinely did so (OR: 2.19, 95 percent CI 1.13-4.87). These results indicate that responses about leadership support may have been biased by other factors unrelated leadership actions. Recommendations for better survey assessment of leadership support for safety and injury prevention are provided, which are less likely to reflect biases. Additional recommendations are suggested, such as training for leaders in safety-specific transactional and transformational leadership styles to improve safety climate and safety culture, education for unit leaders about preventing training-related injuries and implementing balanced training techniques, and use of Army Wellness Centers for health education and improving readiness.