A Literature Review of Adoptive Current Leadership Models andManagement Systems, Practices and Procedures Utilized toOccupational Safety and Health (OSH) For Distributed Workers

Distributed workers – those who work autonomously and remotely from their organization’smain locations for at least some of their work time – are an important and growing proportionof the workforce that share common characteristics of temporal and spatial distance. Yet,many leadership styles and management practices assume face-to face interaction, potentiallyrendering them less helpful in trying to ensure good occupational safety and health (OSH)outcomes for distributed workers. We conducted a systematic literature review to examinethe leadership and management of OSH for distributed workers. Twenty-three papers wereidentified. Eleven papers identified established leadership styles, including leader-memberexchange (safety specific) transformational and considerate leadership. Twenty papersexamined management. Findings from these twenty papers were interpreted as representingresources, deployed through management and utilized by managers to ensure OSH fordistributed workers, including communication technologies, social support and a good safetyclimate. Despite limited research in this area, findings indicate the importance of bothleadership and management in ensuring OSH for distributed workers. Findings suggest afertile area for future enquiry.

Keywords:

Distributed Workers , Management Resources , Leadership , Safety , Health