Health and safety culture

Wamuziri, S. (2011) Factors that contribute to positive and negative health and safety cultures in construction. In Proceedings of the CIB W099 Conference Prevention - Means to the End of Construction Injuries, Illnesses and Fatalities. CIB, Rotterdam. 

The term health and safety climate has been used to describe the tangible outputs of an organization s health and safety culture as perceived by individuals or work groups at a point in time. (p. 15)... 

Referring spedlically to the measuring of the health and safety culture, the Health and Safety Executive (2001) states ... 

The health and safety culture of an organization is an important factor in ensuring the effectiveness of risk control. The health and safety management system is an important influence on the safety culture, which in turn impacts on the effectiveness of the health and safety management system. Measuring aspects of the safety culture therefore forms part of the overall process of measuring health and safety performance. (P-14)... 

Ensiue a positive health and safety culture within the organisation. 

HSE in the United Kingdom offers BOEM considerable guidance from its more than 10 years of regulating worker health and safety for offshore wind farms that includes collaborating with stakeholders to build and maintain a health and safety culture. Finally, BOEM could look to domestic and international standards for management models and for health and safety guidelines as it prepares to enhance its SMS. Trade associations such as AWEA, RenewableUK, and IMCA publish health and safety guidelines that often represent the best practices of their respective industries. 

A well-defined health and safety organization - The shared understanding of the organization s values and beliefs, at all levels of the company or concern is an essential component of a positive health and safety culture. An effective organization will be noted for good staff involvement and participation high quality communications the promotion of competency and the empowerment of all employees to make informed contributions. 

It is important to gain the cooperation of all employees if a successful health and safety culture is to become established. This cooperation is best achieved by consultation. The easiest and potentially the most effective method of consultation is the health and safety committee. It will realize its full potential if its recommendations are seen to be implemented and both management and employee concerns are freely discussed. It will not be so successful if it is seen as a talking shop. 

The health and safety culture of an organization may be described as the development stage of the organization in health and safety management at a particular time. HSG65 gives the following definition of a health and safety culture ... 

There is concern among some health and safety professionals that many health and safety cultures are developed and driven by senior managers with very little input from the workforce. Others argue that this arrangement is sensible because the legal duties are placed on... 

The relationship between health and safety culture and health and safety performance... 

There are several outputs or indicators of the state of the health and safety culture of an organization. The most important are the numbers of accidents, near misses and occupational ill-health cases occurring within the organization or on the construction site. 

While the number of accidents may give a general indication of the health and safety culture, a more detailed examination of accidents and accident statistics is normally required. A calculation of the rate of accidents enables health and safety performance to be compared between years and organizations. 

Subject to the above limitations, an organization with a high accident incidence rate is likely to have a negative or poor health and safety culture. 

There are other indications of a poor health and safety culture or climate. These include ... 

In summary, a poor health and safety performance within an organization is an indication of a negative health and safety culture. 

Structural reorganization or changes in market conditions will produce feelings of uncertainty among the workforce which, in turn, will affect the health and safety culture. 

Finally, the degree of consultation and involvement with the workforce in health and safety matters is crucial for a positive health and safety culture. Most of these factors may be summed up as human factors. 

Everybody is capable of making errors. It is one of the objectives of a positive health and safety culture to reduce them and their consequences as much as possible. 

The health and safety culture is enhanced considerably when senior managers appear regularly at all levels of an organization whether it be the shop floor, the hospital ward or the general office and are willing to discuss health and safety issues with staff. A visible management is very important for a positive health and safety culture. 

For a positive health and safety culture to be developed, everyone within the organization needs to understand the standards of health and safety expected by the organization and the role of the individual in achieving and maintaining those standards. Such standards are required to control and minimize health and safety risks. 

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