SAFETY CULTURE Every company desires safe operations, but the challenge is to translate this desire into action. Written rules, standards and procedures while important and necessary, are not enough. Companies must develop a culture in which the value of safety is embedded in every level of the workforce. We define culture as the unwritten standards and norms that shape mind-sets, attitudes and behaviours.
A culture of safety starts with leadership, because leadership drives culture and culture drives behaviour. Leaders influence culture by setting expectations, building structure, teaching others and demonstrating stewardship.
A commitment to safety and operational integrity begins with management. But management alone cannot drive the entire culture. For a culture of safety to flourish, it must be embedded throughout the organisation. A major incident is generally the result of a number of factors interacting in unanticipated ways. Many of these factors will be psychological or behavioural and are in turn influenced by the prevailing Safety Culture. A strong Safety Culture is not in itself an absolute guarantee against incidents, but it is a barrier against the complacency, omissions and violations which are so commonly listed in incident reports as causal factors. A Management System that is not backed-up by a positive Safety Culture might not give the desired outcomes. A Strong Safety Culture is A strong Safety Culture is:
• An informed culture – the organisation collects and analyses relevant data to stay informed of its safety performance.
• A reporting culture – people are confident they can report safety concerns without fear of blame.
• A learning culture – the organisation learns from its mistakes and makes changes to unsafe conditions.
• A flexible culture – the organisation can reconfigure the chain of command if faced by a dynamic and demanding task environment.
• A just culture – people understand the boundary between behaviours considered acceptable and unacceptable. Unacceptable behaviours are dealt with in a consistent, just and fair manner. Unacceptable behaviours are dealt with in a consistent, just and fair manner.
A Safety Culture starts with leadership; leadership drives culture, which in turn drives behaviour. Senior management support of a Safety Culture often starts with providing resources, dedicated safety personnel, safety training and incident investigations. As more time and commitment are devoted, a company may establish safety management systems, set safety objectives and introduce site-level mechanisms (e.g., hazard analysis, behaviour observation and feedback incentive schemes action item tracking systems, and safety committees). Further progress toward a strong Safety Culture would be the use of accountability systems, which encourage the recognition that safety is everyone's responsibility and not just the responsibility of the safety department. Over time the values and beliefs of the organization will shift focus, from eliminating physical hazards to eliminating work situations prone to human error by building systems that proactively improve workplace conditions to the point where safety becomes a core value of the organisation and an integral part of operations.
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