A safety culture is an organisational culture that places a high level of importance on safety beliefs, values and attitudes—and these are shared by the majority of people within the company or workplace. A positive safety culture can result in improved workplace health and safety (WHS) and organisational performance.

In safety and health, culture can be defined as a system of shared beliefs and behaviors that affects how workers from different ethnic and social groups perceive, understand, adapt to and address safety concerns at work. these understandings are similar or different for workers with different cultural backgrounds.

Ergonomics – musculoskeletal injuries, hand injuries, policies and procedures. Hazardous materials – chemical handling, dust control. Occupational diseases – dust, silicosis, vibration injuries. Proper personal protective equipment.

It is suggested in this study that leadership support, management commitment and safety management system are important factors that contribute to safety culture.

Here are 5 indicators that your organisations safety culture is dysfunctional: Poor Incident/accident reporting, investigation and analysis-Many incidents go unreported. Investigation only takes place after a serious accident. Analysis doesn’t consider human factors or go beyond legal requirements.

Changes for Improvement

1. Conduct Patient Safety Leadership WalkRounds™
2. Create a Reporting System.
3. Designate a Patient Safety Officer.
4. Reenact Real Adverse Events from Your Hospital.
5. Involve Patients in Safety Initiatives.
6. Relay Safety Reports at Shift Changes.
7. Appoint a Safety Champion for Every Unit.

Solving the 3 Biggest Challenges Faced by Health and Safety Professionals

1. Managing Training Needs. Training is a vital part of safety management as it greatly reduces the risk of workplace accidents and is a necessary part of workplace compliance.
2. Meeting Compliance Requirements.
3. Finding Enough Time.

Common Challenges in Industrial Safety Operations

• Challenge #1: Workplace Incidents and Hazards.
• Challenge #2: Proactive Risk Assessment.
• Challenge #3: Ever-changing Safety Laws and Regulations.
• Challenge #4: Workforce Training.
• Challenge #5: Regular Safety and Operational Audits.
• Challenge #6: Communication Between Roles.

How to improve your safety culture

• communicating company values;
• demonstrating leadership;
• clarifying required and expected behaviours;
• personalising safety outcomes;
• developing positive safety attitudes;
• engaging and owning safety responsibilities and accountabilities;

7 Suggestions to Improve Your Safety Culture

1. Establish C-Level Buy-in.
2. Collect Data to Drive Improvement.
3. Establish a Team and Set Goals.
4. Identify Safety as a Core Value and Create a Supportive Environment.
5. Communicate and Empower.
6. Evaluate your progress.
7. Stay proactive and drive continuous improvement.

Remember to share your corporate vision with all stakeholders. Impose and enforce accountability — In a robust health and safety culture, everyone is accountable for health and safety. However, this only occurs when you impose and enforce accountability on all employees; including managers and supervisors.

Safety consultant Kevin Cobb says that resistance to safety protocols can arise from employees “feeling neglected, marginalized, unlistened to and powerless.” In an article on social power and industrial safety, Kevin argues that problems with safety culture are often the result of safety being a one-way street.

Additional challenges mentioned in the ILO report are aging worker populations, gender gaps, often in the heavy industry and migrant workers. These issues will create unique challenges to companies focused on improving occupational health and safety conditions in the workplace.

In a culturally safe workplace all workers feel comfortable, supported and respected. Workers will feel they can contribute to all appropriate discussions, they will work safer and be more productive. In the diverse environments in which we all live and work, the importance of being culturally safe at work cannot be underestimated.