Integrated safety culture program
The concept of safety culture started in the early 1980s. The Chernobyl nuclear accident helped focus mainstream safety management on safety culture. The International Atomic Energy Agency summary report of Chernobyl stated that ‘formal procedures must be properly reviewed and approved and must be supplemented by the creation and maintenance of a nuclear safety culture’
However, Safety Culture can be difficult to define and measure.
Most of events are due to insufficient or missing elements such as :
Evaluation of risks or knowledge of the risks,
Process clearly defined (procedures, standards, guidelines, SOP, ..)
Training, induction, awareness
Attention to safety at all levels of the organization
Safety culture is (Kuo, 1995) ‘The belief or philosophy on safety matters held by organisations and individuals, which is demonstrated in practice through their attitudes, actions and behaviour.'
An organisation’s safety culture becomes evident in ‘the way we do things around here when no-one is looking’ (Matthew S., head of the Flight Safety Foundation)
A strong safety culture requires :
Involvement, commitment, ownership and leadership of all levels of the organization,
Transparency, open communication,
Just and fair policy with positive culture, recognition but also clear definition of the ‘Not acceptable behavior’,
Clear responsibilities and clear accountabilities regarding safety with associated management system in place such as ISO45001,
Learning culture, return of experience and continuous improvement spirit.
Based on the previous elements , FVSAFETY can help you to develop a safety culture. We will support you to improve workplace safety by identifying
strengths and weaknesses,
interactions between people,
how and why people behave within your organization,
how is the attention of safety in your organization.
