Human Resource Management Practices and Workplace Safety: Evidence From Ethnographies on Autonomy-Based Structural Empowerment and its Limits

Connie Deng, Nick Turner, Steve Granger, Alyssa Grocutt, Rik Mantel, University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University

Group & Organization Management

Published online on April 10, 2026

Abstract

Group & Organization Management, Ahead of Print.
This mixed-method study examines how human resource management (HRM) practices relate to organizational work injury rates and when their safety benefits are constrained by features of the work system. Using quantitative data from 106 ethnographies ...