Safety Culture

What is safety culture?

“The safety culture of an organization is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the organization's commitment to, style, and proficiency in, health and safety management.

"Organizations with a positive safety culture are characterized by communications founded on mutual trust, shared perceptions of the importance of safety, and confidence in the efficacy of preventive measures.”

(Refer: ACSNI Human Factors Study Group: Third report - Organising for safety HSE Books 199) .

Many of the activities that support the development of a positive safety culture need to be measured.

They are included under the headings (the ‘four Cs’):

Commitments and control
Communication and consultation
Co-operation and coordination
Competence and compliances

Safety Indicators or factors :

Many indicators are subject to change as a result of various circumstances.

Positive factors or indicators reflecting H&S culture:

Evidences/ Reasons for Positive Cultures :

Strong leadership (Visible Leadership) (Management regular visit the workplace)
Strong Management; (e.g. Weekly H&S meeting, Monthly H&S meeting, Existence of H&S Committee meeting, TBT held everyday , Safety Briefing are held by management)
Existence of H&S Policy ( Safety Goals, Target & objectives defined & SMART target are set) & Procedure- And H&S policy Displayed
H&S Policy is reviewed time to time
H&S Policy is updated time to time
Commitment to H&S at all levels;( implemented OH&SMS) ( Commitment from the management)
No Blame culture;
No Bullying Culture
Co-operation in terms of H&S
Co-ordination for H&S
Effective communication (like used notice boards for Safety information)
Worker consultation ( Considering their views for developing system or in Problem-solving)
Worker Participation ( Involved in Risk-Assessment, SSW, Investigation etc.)
Adequate information provided related to H&S to all
Safety instruction provided to all
Training to workers (Effective Training is provided-Like Induction Training, Job-specific-Training, First-Aid Training, Emergency Training etc.)
Effective Supervision
Staff Turnover rate is minimum; ( Employees are not leaving to the Organisation)
Low incident rate / Low Accident Rate,
No repeat of Accidents
Not occurring frequent Near-misses ( No near-miss)
Near-miss are not repeating
Low absenteeism,
Low sickness rate
Lesson Learning Organization ( Learning from the Accidents and implemented that Learning other parts of the organization also.)
Adequate allocation of resources; ( Man( Competent Manpower), Machine(Safe Plant & Machinery), Material (Safe Material ),
Money -Safety Budget is allocated.
Concern about H&S for all employees
Hiring Competent People including Safety representative & Safety Officers
Meeting Legal Compliances ( Fulfilling Legal Requirements)-(Legal Compliant Organization)( Worker understand Legal requirements.)
No civil claims
No enforcement actions against the organisation
Less workers & Stakeholders complaints ( No Complains – If complains are there , Organisation are taking steps to resolve the complaints.)
(Management is listening to Complaints)
Reporting System Exist ( Workers are familiar that what to report, Whom to report)
Recording Procedure of Events / Accidents /near-misses/Previous injuries in Accident-Book,
Existence of Disciplinary Procedure
Team work among all level of management
No peer pressure
Active monitoring
Safety Inspection is done frequently and implemented ,
Safety Audit is implemented or done ,
Safety Tour
Reactive Monitoring system exist ( Like Prompt investigation of incidents and accidents, near-miss );
Accident-Investigation system exist
Near-miss Investigation is done.
No Rule Breaking at workplace or organisation
Regular H&S Performance measurement
Compensation Culture
Effective Risk Assessment
Importance given to Risk Assessment( It is not General, It is Suitable and Sufficient, All significant hazards and Risks have been considered ) (Generic , specific & dynamic , Sensible RA). ( e.g. Risk Assessment is accessible to all)
Risk Assessment updated time to time
Risk Assessment is reviewed time to time.
Trained Safety Representative
Implemented Effective Safe System of Work (SSW) (e.g. PTW, Methods Statement, review and update the SSW etc. )
Looking to prevent a repeat accidents
Suggesting multiple H&S management improvements
Review and keeping update the OH&SMS
Keeping workplace Tidy

Negative or Reactive factors affects the H&S Culture (Safety Climate):

Lack of strong leadership ( Workers never seen the Manager/ Directors/ MD)
Workers rarely see the Directors/ Top- Management at site
Poor Management Practices
Management not listening to Workers complaints, feedback, concerns etc.
Non-ethical behaviour by Management
Threaten to workers, Dismiss , Removing from the Job etc.
Lack of commitment to H&S
Management not fulfilling his Promises etc.
No H&S Policy
if exist but Policy not reviewed, not updated , it may be 5 years old etc.)
No H&S Procedures
If Safety Procedure exist but not reviewed, updated , it may be 5 years old etc.
Presence of Blaming culture,
Presence of Bullying culture (e.g. Harassment , Work-related violence( Threat, Using abusive words, Trying to physically harm etc.))
No planning of Risk assessment, ( e.g. General Risk Assessment) –
If RA exist but not reviewed , Not updated , It may be 5 years old
no provision of Safe System of Work (e.g. PTW)- ( If exist, not reviewed, not updated or not used)
Lack of resources ( less manpower, Vacant positions, No competent manpower etc.)
No money/safety budget provided
No safe machines –Old machine are used, require frequent maintenance-regular breakdown
High Staff Turnover Rate
Workers leaving the organizations, They give the resign after the Major Accident or due to Bad-Practices etc.
Lack of worker Participation
Not involved in Risk Assessment, developing SSW)
No workers’ consultation arrangement, No co-operation, (Worker’s are not allowed to speak-up etc.)
Poor peer (team work) approach / Poor Behaviour of team members
Too much Work Pressure
Workers feel stress and struggle to perform their duties)
Not defined any Roles and Responsibilities
Low priority of H&S in business
Conflicting priorities
Deadline to be met so Manager instruct to take Short-Cut)
No provision of H&S Information
Workers are not aware what is H&S)
No provision of H&S Instruction
No H&S Instruction provided)
No provision of H&S Training
No training Provided, 2-minutes Induction training only, Training after 1 month, Job-Specific Training provided but not related to H&S, workers are not aware about H&S etc.)
No provision of Supervision
Workers are working alone without supervision)
No Legal Compliances
No one is familiar with Legal requirements )
Legal requirement are not complied)
No H&S Performance measurement
Increase in Staff-Turn over Rate
Workers giving resign from the job due to H&S issues etc.)
Increase in Absenteeism ( Absent-Rate)
Increase in Sickness-Rate
Workers complaints
Workers complaining no action taken by Manager/Director etc.) ( Workers do not have right to complain otherwise they have to leave the organization.)
No Accident Recording system ( No accident Records are found) ,
No Accident/Incident Reporting Procedure ( No Reporting System Exist )
Workers do not know that what, where and whom to report)
Not Hiring Competent People
16 years young people hired for Risky Job)
No Disciplinary Procedure,
Workers are doing unsafe Act but management is silent.)
No OHSMS ( If Exist , HSMS not reviewed , not up-to-date , Directors are not aware what is OHSMS or How to improve it.)
No Lesson learning
Organisation is not learning from the previous Accidents/Incidents)
No H&S Performance Monitoring
No Active Monitoring
No/absence of Safety Inspection,
No Safety Audit ,
No Safety Tours etc.
No Reactive Monitoring Provision
No Prompt Investigation
No collection & Analysis of Data)
No Accident/Incident Investigation system

What is the relationship between H&S culture and H&S performance (what is the correlation between Safety Culture and Safety Performance):

There is a direct relationship between H&S culture and its performance.

The positive culture organization performs better . An organisation with a positive H&S culture will ensure that H&S standards are high and will have:

A firm statement of H&S policy.
Well defined lines of responsibilities and control. (e.g. documented)
Clear communication and consultation on H&S.
Active approaches to H&S at all levels.
People working safely so there will be fewer accidents and ill-health.

Whereas negative culture unable to deliver good performance in an organization.

An organisation with a negative H&S culture will have:

Symptoms of poor cultural factors can include:

Widespread, routine procedural violations;
Failure to comply with the company’s own SMS/rules/procedures (although either of these can also be due to poor procedure design);
Management decisions that appear consistently to put production or cost before safety.
Workers who think H&S unimportant.
Lack of clear direction and leadership from senior management.
Managers who do not consider H&S in their decision-making.
Workers who behave unsafely because they do not know any better.
With the lack of attention to H&S standards will be low, behaviour poor and accidents will occur.

How to improve the health and safety culture?

Gaining commitment of management
Senior managers provide leadership & motivation.
Leadership demonstrated by top management.
Senior management behaving safely themselves. (Senior managers follow H&S practices at all times)
Involvement in the day-to-day management of safety - e.g. attending safety meetings.
Senior management taking part in safety tours and audits.
Promoting activities like Safety campaign to improve safety.
Enforcing the rules at workplace.
Senior managers visit assets/premises as regularly as is practicable.
Senior managers include H&S in discussions with operational personnel at every opportunity and follow-up any concerns.
Senior managers attend safety meetings and regularly provide operational personnel with feedback on company H&S initiatives.
Senior managers meet with new business partners to discuss H&S expectations.
Senior managers speak at internal conferences on the importance of getting H&S Right and training seminars held by contractors.
Needs clear policy, priorities and targets at the organisation.
Commitment cascades down through the organisation.
Use of disciplinary procedures & enforcing safety rules,
Hiring competent staff so as to maintain positive safety culture
keep updates of H&S Regulation and National laws.
Promoting H&S standards by visible leadership and example
Appropriate use of disciplinary procedures
Enhance Worker Participation and Consultation
Commitment to H&S at all levels
Adequate allocation of resources
Importance to Hazard & Risk Assessment , SSW (PTW)
Ensuring and promoting continual/continuous improvement
Effective communication
Keeping OHSMS up to date
IITS (Information, Instruction , Training and Supervision)(e.g. Provide Training to Workers) --remember by SIIT -Supervision , Information, Instruction, Training