HSE Human Factors Briefing Note No.

7
Safety Culture

Briefing Note 1 Introducing Human Factors explains the background to these Briefing Notes.

The Confederation of British Industry describes the culture of an organisation as "the mix of shared
values, attitudes and patterns of behaviour that give the organisation its particular character. Put
simply it is 'the way we do things round here'". They suggest that the "safety culture of an
organisation could be described as the ideas and beliefs that all members of the organisation share
about risk, accidents and ill health".

Case study
The best Safety and Health Programs involve every level of the organization, instilling a safety
culture that reduces accidents for workers and improves the bottom line for managers. When Safety
and Health are part of the organizations way of life, everyone wins.

The following is an analysis of the safety and health program at a plant

Culture is very poor and does not encourage safe behaviour; rather, it encourages unsafe behaviour
and blames employees when something goes wrong. Employees wont participate as a result of fear.
There is low trust and credibility, and probably poor communication within the organization.
Source: Ref. 1

Over the last 60 years

Hardware or so, industry first
reduced accident rates
by improving: hardware
Accidents/100.000 population

Employees (effective guards, safer

equipment); then
improved employee
Organisation
performance (selection
and training, incentives
and reward schemes)
and, then changed the
way they manage and
organise especially,
Murphy Margin
by introducing safety
management systems.
1940s-60s 1960s-80s 1980s-90s

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Each improvement reduced accidents down to a plateau level where further improvement seemed
impossible.

Now, most accidents (and other business disruptions) stem from employee errors or violations. The
next big step change in safety has begun and is based on developing good safety cultures that
positively influence human behaviour at work to reduce errors and violations.

Safety culture is not a difficult idea, but it is usually described in terms of concepts such as trust,
values and attitudes. It can be difficult to describe what these mean, but you can judge whether a
company has a good safety culture from what its employees actually do rather than what they say.

The term safety climate is also used. This has a very similar meaning to safety culture: and the
difference between them is unimportant here.

HSE concerns
Many companies talk about safety culture when referring to the inclination of their employees to
comply with rules or act safely. However, we often find that the culture and style of management is
even more significant, for example a natural, unconscious bias for production over safety, or a
tendency to focus on the short term, or being highly reactive.

Our company has a good safety culture because:

Managers regularly visit the workplace and discuss safety matters with the workforce
The company gives regular, clear information on safety matters
We can raise a safety concern, knowing the company take it seriously and they will tell us
what they are doing about it
Safety is always the companys top priority, we can stop a job if we dont feel safe
The company investigates all accidents and near misses, does something about it and gives
feedback
The company keeps up to date with new ideas on safety
We can get safety equipment and training if needed the budget for this seems about right
Everyone is included in decisions affecting safety and are regularly asked for input
Its rare for anyone here to take shortcuts or unnecessary risks
We can be open and honest about safety: the company doesnt simply find someone to
blame
Morale is generally high

Learning more about safety culture

A large number of factors contribute to whether you have a good or a
bad safety culture. The table below lists the main factors; indicates
what would show that you had a good safety culture, and what would
support the safety culture. This can be used as a very rough guide to
assessing your safety culture or as a way of developing ideas for
improving it.

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A healthy safety culture this is shown when management and is helped when
is one where there is management
Visible Commitment to Make regular useful visits to site Makes time to visit site (not just
Safety by Management Discuss safety matters with frontline following an accident or incident)
personnel All show commitment
Will stop production for safety Has good non-technical skills
reasons regardless of cost (e.g. communication skills;)
Spend time and money on safety Are also interested in workforce
e.g. to provide protective equipment, safety when they are not at work,
safety training, and conduct safety e.g. provide information on
culture workshops or audits domestic safety
Will not tolerate violations of Shows concern for wider issues
procedures and actively try to e.g. workforce stress and general
improve systems so as to health
discourage violations e.g. plan work Actively sets an example (e.g.
so that short cuts arent necessary always conform to all safety
to do the work in time. procedures)
Workforce Participation Consults widely about health and Supports an active safety
and Ownership of Safety safety matters committee
Problems and Solutions Does more than the minimum to Have a positive attitude to safety
comply with the law on consultation representatives
Seeks workforce participation in: Provides tools or methods that
setting policies and objectives encourage participation e.g.
accident/near miss investigations behavioural observation
programmes & incentive schemes
that promote safety
Trust Between Shop floor Encourages all employees and Promotes job satisfaction/good
and Management contractors to challenge anyone industrial relations and high
working on site about safety without morale
fear of reprisals Promotes a just culture
Keeps their promises (assigning blame only where
Treats the workforce with respect someone was clearly reckless or
took a significant risk)
Encourages trust between all
employees
Good Communications Provides good (clear, concise, Encourages employee
relevant) written materials (safety participation in suggesting safety
bulletins, posters, guidance) topics to be communicated
Provides good briefings on current Provides specific training in
issues day to day and in formal communication skills
safety meetings; listening and Has more than one means of
feedback communicating
A Competent Workforce Ensures that everyone working on Is supportive
their sites is competent in their job Has a good competence assurance
and in safety matters system

References
1. http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/safetyhealth/index.html
2. HSE (2002). Health and Safety Laboratory, Human Factors Group. Safety Culture: A review of
the literature. HSL/2002/25.
3. HSE (2000). HSG65, Successful Health and Safety Management. ISBN 0 7176 1276 7
4. HSE (2000). Safety Culture Maturity Model. OTO 2000/049. ISBN 0 7176 1919 2
5. HSE, (1993). Organising for Safety. 3rd report of ACSNI Study Group on Human Factors.
London, ISBN 0 11 882104 0

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