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Indicators of an organisation's safety culture
Safety culture is assessed to find out whether it needs to improve. It cannot be measured directly, because no single feature stands for it. A better approach is to look at tangible outputs that serve as indicators.
| Indicators of a positive culture | Indicators of a negative culture |
|---|---|
| Good ways of informing and consulting the workforce | More accidents and cases of ill health |
| Recognition that everyone has a role | Higher absenteeism |
| Top management committed to involving the workforce | High worker turnover |
| Cooperation between employees | Blame culture |
| Open, two-way communication | Complaints about working conditions |
| High-quality training | Widespread, routine procedural violations |
| Motivated employees | Poor communication, cooperation and control |
| Continuous learning | Weak OHS management structure |
| Worker involvement | Lack of OHS competence |
| Job satisfaction | High insurance premiums |
| Failure to follow the company's own management system | |
| Management decisions that consistently seem to put production or cost ahead of safety |
The influence of peers
A peer is someone who works in the same group and usually at the same level in an organisation.
Most people shape their behaviour by what others think of them. People tend to act as the group does so that they keep a sense of belonging, and this pull works on them consciously and unconsciously. Because worker behaviour directly shapes organisational culture, the effect on safety culture can be large.
Peer influence can promote good safety culture. If a team leader believes that working safely is the proper way to get the job done, the rest of the team will most likely act the same way. The reverse is equally true.
The effect also applies to newcomers. A new member will fit in with how the team works, and the team in turn makes sure the new member follows its example.
It is therefore important to expect peer influence and use it when building a positive safety culture. The approach is to win the commitment of senior managers and of influential individuals in the workplace, then use them to bring other managers and workers towards the organisation's safety culture goals. In this way the power of peers is put to good use.
Summary notes for Element 3 · Cheat sheet · Glossary. A study aid, not published or endorsed by NEBOSH.