Safety culture interdependency

Clark, G. (2002), Organisational culture and safety an interdependent relationship, Australian Health Review, 25, 181—189. [PubMed 12536878]... 

The relationship between the individual, the job they perform and the organisation in which they work is both complex and interrelated. An effective safety culture is one that recognises and manages these interdependent spheres of influence and manages the interfaces between work and ... 

Building interdependent trust and belonging should be part of the mission statement for every corporate endeavor that involves people. It should influence almost every conversation we have with coworkers. It is a continuous journey, essential to cultivating an organization of individuals and teams whose personal and shared accountabilities for safety and health are sufficient to achieve a Total Safety Culture. The seven C-words reviewed here are easy to remember, and although their meanings overlap to some extent, each offers distinct directives for trust-budding behavior. 

Systems thinkers understand the link between behavior and attitude. A small change in behavior can result in a beneficial change in attitude, followed by more behavior change and then more attitude change—eventually resulting in total commitment. So behavior-based safety sets the stage for systems thinking and interdependent teamwork, and this can lead ultimately to a Total Safety Culture. 

Premature cognitive commitment is the root cause of much, if not most, interpersonal conflict. And it is a barrier we must overcome to develop the interdependent teamwork needed for a Total Safety Culture. Being mindful of premature cognitive commitment in ourselves and others will not stop this bias, but it is a start. 

A "yes" answer to any of these questions implies contextual barriers that need to be overcome in order to achieve the ultimate injmy-free workplace. A "no" answer to all of these questions is symptomatic of a work context that encomages people to actively care for the health and safety of others. In this kind of work culture, it is not sufficient to rely on the organization s safe operating procedures or even on personal responsibility and self-discipline but on interpersonal teamwork and a shared interdependent responsibility to protect each other. In this work context, actively caring can be cultivated and a Total Safety Culture achieved. 

It seems intuitive that building a sense of community or belonging among our coworkers will improve organizational safety. Safety improvement requires interpersonal observation and feedback and, for this to happen, people need to adopt a collective win-win perspective instead of the individualistic win-lose orientation common in many work settings. A sense of belonging and interdependency leads to interpersonal trust and caring—essential features of a Total Safety Culture. 

Through actively caring, and enhancing self-esteem, empowerment, and belonging, we can bring down the "us vs. them" walls that entrap a work culture. Active caring spreads mutual trust and interdependence throughout the culture. In a Total Safety Culture, everyone benefits from each individual s efforts. 

The elements of a posihve safety culture (as the Mulder list above shows) are both numerous and wide ranging but many are also interdependent and some are consequenhal (in that it will be easier to achieve one if others have been achieved in advance). This makes a deliberate attempt to change safety culture head-on highly complex and extremely demanding. 

This conclusion is also relevant for proactive or preventive action, as in safety intervention. When people receive tools to improve safety, and believe the tools will be accepted and effective to prevent injuries, bystander apathy for safety will decrease. This implies, of course, the need to promote a social responsibility or interdependence norm throughout the culture and teach and support specific intervention strategies or tools to prevent workplace injuries. 

Accountability Attitude Attributes Communication Continuous learning Dependent DuPont Bradley Curve HSE Cultural Ladder Information Interdependent lob safety analysis (ISA) Leadership Objectives Reactive Responsibility Strategy Team approach Traits Values Vision World-class. 

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