Promoting a positive
health and safety culture
Learning outcomes
1. describe the concept of health and safety culture and its
significance in the management of health and safety in an
organization
2. identify indicators which could be used to assess the
effectiveness of an organization’s health and safety culture and
recognize factors that could cause its deterioration
3. identify the factors which influence safety related behaviour at
work
4. identify methods which could be used to improve the health
and safety culture of an organization
5. outline the internal and external influences on an
organization’s health and safety standards.
HSG65 gives the following definition of a
health and safety culture:
 The safety culture of an organization is the product
of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions,
competencies and patterns of behaviour that
determine the commitment to, and the style and
proficiency of, an organization’s health and safety
management.
 Organizations with a positive safety culture are
characterized by communications founded on mutual
trust, by shared perceptions of the importance of
safety and by confidence in the efficacy of preventive
measures.
Safety culture and safety performance
 The following elements are the important
components of a positive health and safety culture:
 leadership and commitment to health and safety
throughout and at all levels of the organization.
 acceptance that high standards of health and safety
are achievable as part of a long-term strategy formulated
by the organization.
 a detailed assessment of health and safety risks in the
organization and the development of appropriate control
and monitoring systems.
Safety culture and safety performance
Key elements of all H&S
management systems
 a health and safety policy statement outlining short
and long-term health and safety objectives. Such a policy
should also include codes of practice and required health
and safety standards.
 relevant employee training programmes and
communication and consultation procedures.
 systems for monitoring equipment, processes and
procedures and the prompt rectification of any defects.
 the prompt investigation of all incidents and accidents
and reports made detailing any necessary remedial
actions.
Important indicators of a health and safety
culture
There are several outputs or indicators of the state of
the health and safety culture of an organization.
The most important are the numbers of accidents,
near misses and occupational ill-health cases occurring
within the organization.
Incident Rate
 There are four main problems with this measure
which must be borne in mind when it is used. These
are:
 variation over a time period in the ratio of part-time
to full-time employees.
 the measure does not differentiate between major
and minor accidents and takes no account of other
incidents, such as those involving damage but no
Injury.
 there may be significant variations in work activity
during the periods being compared.
under-reporting of accidents will affect the accuracy
of the data.
Human factors and their influence on
safety performance
Heinrich’s accidents/incidents ratios
human factors
 The HSE has defined human factors as, ‘
environmental, organizational and job factors, and
human and individual characteristics which influence
behaviour at work in a way which can affect health and
safety ’ .
 In simple terms in addition to the environment, the
health and safety of people at work are influenced by:
 the organization
 the job
 personal factors.
The organization
manages health and safety throughout the
organization, including the setting and publication of a
health and safety policy and the establishment of a
health and safety organizational structure.
 measures the health and safety performance of the
organization at all levels and in all departments. The
performance of individuals should also be measured.
motivates managers within the organization to
improve health and safety performance in the
workplace in a proactive rather than reactive manner.
The organization
The HSE has recommended that an organization needs to
provide the following elements within its management
system:
 a clear and evident commitment from the most senior
manager downwards.
 an analytical and imaginative approach identifying
possible routes to human factor failure.
 procedures and standards for all aspects of critical
work and mechanisms for reviewing them.
 effective monitoring systems to check the implementation
of the procedures and standards.
 incident investigation and the effective use of information
drawn from such investigations.
 adequate and effective supervision with the power to
remedy deficiencies when found.
T he organization
 The following simple checklist may be used to check
any organizational health and safety management structure.
Does the structure have:
an effective health and safety management system?
a positive health and safety culture?
arrangements for the setting and monitoring of standards?
adequate supervision?
effective incident reporting and analysis?
learning from experience?
clearly visible health and safety leadership?
suitable team structures?
efficient communication systems and practices?
adequate staffing levels?
suitable work patterns
The job
 Health and safety is an important element during the
design stage of the job and any equipment, machinery or
procedures associated with the job.
 HSG48 gives the following causes for failures in job
health and safety :
 illogical design of equipment and instruments
 constant disturbances and interruptions
 missing or unclear instructions
 poorly maintained equipment
 high workload
 noisy and unpleasant working conditions.
The job
Arrangements
Well designed work station for sitting or standing
Arrangements
Poor working conditions
Personal factors
 Personal factors, which affect health and safety, may be
defined as any condition or characteristic of an individual
which could cause or influence him/her to act in an unsafe
manner.
 They may be physical, mental or psychological in nature.
Personal factors, therefore, include issues such as attitude,
motivation, training and human error and their interaction
with the physical, mental and perceptual capability of the
individual.
 These factors have a significant effect on health and
safety. Some of them, normally involving the personality of
the individual, are unchangeable but others, involving skills,
attitude, perception and motivation can be changed,
modified or improved by suitable training or other measures.
Personal factors
 Studies have shown that the most common personal
factors which contribute to accidents are
 low skill
competence levels
 tiredness
boredom
 low morale
individual medical problems.
 However, the three most common factors are
psychological factors :–
 Attitude
 motivation
 perception
Motivation and activity
Arrangements
Setting Goals and motivating people
Perception
Arrangements
Visual perception –are the lines the same length?
Perception
Arrangements
c) Face or saxophone player?
b) Faces or vase?
Visual perception
Human errors and violations
Review
Types of human failure
Health and safety training needs and opportunities
Review
Health and Safety training needs and opportunities
Internal influences
Internal Influences on safety culture
External Influences
External Influences on safety culture