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Purpose – Studies are rare in operations management literature showcasing how leaders ethically influence their employees to perceive safety performance through motivating them to participate in the quality management (QM) program. To bridge this research gap, this study has been carried out (1) to investigate the relationship between ethical leadership and incentives for participating in QM program to predict perceived safety performance and (2) to examine the relationship between ethical leadership and incentives for QM implementation to predict job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – Responses of 185 Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration employees who participated in the Office of Personnel Management's Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey 2019, taken from public release data file, were used to test the proposed hypotheses using structural equation modelling. Findings – Results show that ethical leaders motivate their employees to participate in the QM program. Such motivation for QM implementation supports public sector employees to perceive high safety performance and attain job satisfaction with their work agency. Further, employees attain high satisfaction with their job when they work under ethical leaders. Theoretical and practical implications were also offered in this study. Originality/value – This study is the first of its kind to contribute providing evidence that ethical leaders working in a hazardous environment motivate employees to get involved in QM implementation. Another contribution of this study, encouraging employees to participate in the QM initiatives leads employees to attain a high level of job satisfaction and safety performance, also adds value to the QM literature. © 2026 Emerald Publishing Limited