Examining the role of supervisory and co-worker safety support in mediating the relationship between safety climate and safety performance

•Safety support from co-workers and supervisors can effectively mediate the impact of safety climate on safety performance.•Relatively few studies on supervisor and co-worker safety support as meditator.•Safety support from colleagues may be more effective than safety support from supervisors. The aim of the current investigation was to undertake a longitudinal, multi-level study involving frontline fire and rescue personnel to assess the extent to which the effects of safety climate unfold over time and impact on safety compliance and participation via the safety-related support provided by both direct supervisors and co-workers. The study sample consisted of 317 firefighters from 46 fire stations in Malaysia, and data was collected using a two-wave longitudinal survey with a six-month gap. SPSS regression analysis was used to test upper-level direct effects, while all lower-level and cross-level effects were assessed using hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). The intermediary effects associated with the two sources of safety support were analysed using the Monte Carlo mediation test. Consistent with the social exchange and social impact theories, the results indicated that the intermediary pathway attributed to co-worker support for safety was over and above that accounted for by supervisory support. There were also firm signs that the intermediary effects associated with co-worker support were more potent than those attributed to supervisory safety support, and that this heightened influence applied irrespective of the safety performance outcome (compliance or participation) or whether the support data were assessed from an individual or team perspective. The theoretical and applied implications of these and other key findings are discussed.