Safety culture

In business and finance terms, safety culture refers to how an organization views and deals with safety. It consists of the attitudes, values, and behaviors that reflect a company's commitment to safety and avoiding risk. Workplace accidents can lead to death, injury, and illness. A weak safety culture and a breakdown in protocol can leave a company more vulnerable to on-the-job hazards and large-scale disasters. Organizations that improve their safety culture can prevent disaster-level incidents, minimize workplace accidents, and decrease related costs. Companies can strengthen their safety cultures through leadership, communication, and employee involvement. Organizations often benefit from increased worker productivity and company profits by changing safety procedures and reducing health risks.

Background

The safety culture theory is difficult to define, as no universally accepted definition exists. However, various definitions have emerged, including the simplest from the Confederation of British Industry: "The way we do things around here." Another often-used definition comes from the UK Health and Safety Executive's research report: "The safety culture of an organization is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organization's health and safety management."

The first use of the term safety culture is credited to the International Atomic Energy Agency's report of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant disaster 1986. Due to the magnitude of the incident, additional investigations looked for a cause beyond engineering flaws and technical malfunctions. The agency's report blamed the disaster on an insufficient safety culture.

Investigations into the circumstances surrounding other historic disasters have revealed underlying causes. Safety culture was cited as contributing to NASA's twin space shuttle disasters, Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003, and BP's Gulf oil spill disaster in 2010.

Safety culture is a part of a company's corporate culture. The organization's members share the overall culture, including its attitudes and beliefs. The group mentality shapes workers' behavior and performance. This, in turn, affects safety outcomes.

If a company's leadership values production and a higher bottom line over safety, it creates a negative safety culture where safety is not a priority. Workers may be assigned to tasks without having proper training. Other workers may be unwilling to report hazardous conditions for fear of punishment. This atmosphere can lead to low morale among employees. Accidents and major disasters are more likely to occur in an environment that enables risk-taking.

According to the US Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), workplace deaths, injuries, and illnesses cost employers billions of dollars annually. The costs associated with workplace accidents include workers' compensation, medical and insurance expenses, survivor benefits, and loss of productivity.

Companies can improve safety culture by emphasizing the safety and health of employees. When an organization changes its attitudes and values about safety, it creates a positive safety culture and boosts workers' morale. By improving its safety culture, the company can minimize disasters, accidents, and the costs that come with them.

Overview

Improving an organization's safety culture is a long-term process that can take years. Companies achieve success through leadership initiatives, communication, and employee involvement.

Influential safety culture includes the following qualities in an organization: concern for its employees, concerns about safety, an individual whom employees respect as the safety contact, up-to-date safety training, and an emphasis on providing a safe workplace.

Based on safety performance reviews, a company's safety culture can fall into one of four dominant states of accountability: secretive, blame, reporting, or just. In a secretive culture, a company has limited resources to address safety concerns. The organization hides the issues to prevent punishment or use of resources. The relationship between management and employees lacks trust. In a blame culture, the company is more concerned with punishing individuals for safety failures than acknowledging responsibility. Trust between workers and management is low. Employees are considered vital in reporting safety concerns and failures in a reporting culture. After the reports are investigated, the company devises solutions and implements them. Employee-management trust is high. In a just culture, employees are encouraged to report important safety information. Risky behaviors are penalized, while safety-conscious actions are rewarded. Employees and management are held accountable, so trust is high. When improving safety culture, companies should aim to move from a secretive or blame culture to a reporting and just culture.

Shared safety beliefs are instrumental to a successful safety culture, and they start with leadership. A company's hierarchy includes the following: top or senior management, supervisors and middle management, and then employees or team members.

Top management provides support. Members of top management must consistently prioritize safety among the organization's goals. They should demonstrate their commitment to it in all workplace situations. This will show workers the importance that the organization places on safety. Managers and supervisors should follow top management's lead. They should treat all employees as part of the group, promoting safety values.

Communication plays an important role in changing a safety culture. Leaders should encourage employees to share safety-related information. Employees who witness a safety issue or failure should report it without fear of retaliation. Employees should communicate potential hazards or concerns to management and other employees. The problems should be investigated and acted on through a fixed system. Good communication allows for a learning culture to develop in the workplace. A learning culture will enable organizations to pinpoint and address hazardous conditions.

Workers should play a role in shaping a culture of safety within the workplace by engaging in surveys to share their perspectives on safety practices and procedures in their environment. Moreover, enhancing the safety culture within a company can lead to advantages for the organization. Implementating safety guidelines, at work can enhance productivity through operations and improved staff motivation which could ultimately result in increased profitability.

Beginning in 2020, a growing interest in studying safety culture within workplaces emphasized aspects of healthcare settings specifically highlighted by the COVID-19 situation, which brought to light significant deficiencies in how safety is managed at organizations. This was evidenced by decreasing safety culture ratings across various industries. Research in the twenty-first century highlights the significance of creating an environment for employees along with leadership and adding holistic safety management strategies to ensure workplace safety improvement. Some notable developments include strategies to address staff shortages. Better employee involvement, improved training outcomes and managing the rising levels of stress in work environments. Many companies now understand that fostering a culture of safety involves more than avoiding accidents; it also means promoting employees’ mental well-being and encouraging communication and ongoing education.

Bibliography

"Business Case for Safety and Health." Occupational Safety and Health Administration, osha.gov/businesscase. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Kalteh, Haji Omid, et al. "The Relationship Between Safety Culture and Safety Climate and Safety Performance: A Systematic Review." International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, vol. 27, no. 1, 2021, pp. 206-16.

Kim, S., et al. "Patient Safety Culture: The Impact on Workplace Violence and Health Worker Burnout." Workplace Health & Safety, vol. 71, no. 2, Feb. 2023, pp. 78-88, doi:10.1177/21650799221126364.

"Leading of Culture of Safety: A Blueprint for Success." Institute for Healthcare Improvement, ihi.org/resources/publications/leading-culture-safety-blueprint-success. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Murray, J., et al. "Ensuring Patient and Workforce Safety Culture in Healthcare." Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 27 Mar. 2024, psnet.ahrq.gov/ensuring-patient-workforce-safety-culture-healthcare. Accessed 6 Dec. 2024.

"Organisational Culture." Health and Safety Executive, hse.gov.uk/humanfactors/topics/culture.htm. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

"Stosic, Kristina, et al. "Applying Lessons from Aviation Safety Culture in the Hospitality Industry: A Review and Road Map." International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, vol. 29, no. 3, 2023, pp. 1025-36.