By Joanna Weekes

Safety culture is the collective attitude and approach to health and safety in a workplace. A safety culture can both improve health and safety standards in your workplace and help your business to work more efficiently, increasing productivity.

The patterns of behaviour that are promoted through safety culture determine the level of commitment that your company has to its health and safety management system.

The key elements of a safety culture are:

1. A risk-based assessment of how safe a business is at the present moment.
2. Identifying where the business wants to go with safety, and aspiring to the best level of safety possible for the business.
3. Identifying how the leadership and behavioural gaps can be addressed through changes in values and attitudes, the development of competencies and the creation of new patterns of behaviour.
4. Identifying how changes should be communicated, understood and believed in by all workers.
5. Implementing objective reporting to both measure and support the changes required.
6. Developing safety leadership culture at all levels of the business.
7. Involving the principles of continuous improvement.

The concept of safety culture should be included in your company’s health and safety management system and the resources to make it possible should be provided by your business.

Communication, consultation and celebration of success are at the core of safety culture.

Next week, we’ll look at what you need to create and measure the success of your safety culture to ensure improved health and safety in your workplace.