6. Creating a culture of safety
Looking at why accidents happen, what really causes them and what we can do to create a safety culture in an organisation.
Safety culture describes the way in which safety is managed within an organisation. It relates to the beliefs and attitudes, values, and perceptions that employees share regarding safety in the organisation.
To reduce the rate of incidents, we need a good understanding of:
- why accidents happen
- what really causes them
- what kind of organisational culture can help to prevent them
It’s important to recognise that while individual behaviour is influenced by many factors, the behaviour is an emergent property of the organisation. The safety culture of an organisation has a big impact on the actions of its employees and how seriously they take safety. Poor safety culture has been linked to many incidents in the maritime industry.
Figure 6 shows the various levels of safety culture as outlined by Hudson. Organisations can exist on or between any of the “rungs” and this can change over time, as it takes continuous effort for an organisation to maintain a certain standard. It should be noted that it’s not possible to reach the top of the ladder at the generative rung, without having gone through the other levels. So, an organisation will need to be at the proactive level before being able to work towards a generative culture.
Figure 6: Hudson’s 5 levels of safety culture
Pathological
Who cares as long as we’re not caught.
No one cares about health and safety and are only driven by the threat of punishment.
Reactive
Safety is important. We do a lot every time there is an accident.
Safety is only taken seriously when things go wrong.
Calculative
We have systems in place to manage hazards.
There is a focus on data collection and higher analysis regarding safety. Higher numbers of audits take place. The information is not always shared in a useful manner.
Proactive
Safety leadership and values drive continuous improvement
Everyone who words for the organisation is engaged in its safety. The organisation recognises the value of continuous improvement.
Generative
Health and safety is how we do business around here.
The organisation sets high standards and expects to exceed them. Accidents, incidents and near misses are used for learning. Time is invested in continuous learning for all. There is an understanding that mistakes are inevitable and so preparation is key.
Reaching any of the higher levels on the ladder relies on commitment from managers and all seafarers.
Several individual, environmental and organisational factors can influence our perception of risk and risk-taking behaviour. Figure 7 illustrates some of these.
Figure 7: the factors that can affect our perception
Organisational factors
- Safety culture.
- Organisational culture.
- Safety leadership.
Environmental or situational factors
- Peer pressure.
- Routine violations.
Individual factors
- Knowledge.
- Mental health and physical wellbeing.
When an organisation encourages continuous improvement, it strengthens its ability to deal effectively with inevitable incidents. The International Safety Management (ISM) Code is designed to encourage continual improvement – through the company’s safety management system (SMS), it encourages the self-regulation of safety. The critical link to accomplishing effective self-regulation is by setting safety goals and targets.
Culture of compliance
While a culture of compliance is certainly better than a culture of non-compliance, rules and regulations only define the minimum standards that should be met. In safety-critical organisations, new risks can arise at any moment.
Culture of continual improvement
An organisational culture that values continual improvement should constantly be seeking out information and ideas to improve safety onboard, to make risks in the working environment as low as reasonably practicable.
Continuous improvement means that:
- scenarios are anticipated and planned for in advance
- fewer emergency responses are needed as proactive management is in place
- complacency is reduced because risks are continuously monitored and new ways of dealing with things are considered
Measurement is an important step in any management process and forms the basis of continual improvement. If measurement is not carried out correctly, the effectiveness of the health and SMS is undermined and there is no reliable information on how well the health and safety risks are controlled.
Safety officials should be given relevant information such as industry guidance as well as:
- findings of the risk assessment and measures for protection in place
- information on any other factors affecting the health and safety of those working on the ship
- statistical information that needs to be considered when conducting risk assessments
Learning culture arises from a culture of reporting, and focuses on how people, organisations and entire industries learn from past incidents and near misses, as well as successes, to become safer. The simple argument is that if you have just culture, you get good reporting, and if you have good reporting you can learn to be safer, which leads to a better safety culture.
You can contribute positively to your organisation’s safety culture by reporting safety concerns when you have them, encouraging seafarers to act safely and speak up about any issues.
Think about section 2. We looked at how different factors, including organisational systems contribute to the behaviour of individuals, which is why having a reporting system in place can help to work towards a just culture.
As a leader you can help develop and encourage the use of a reporting system by:
- identifying staff who can champion the reporting system
- providing relevant training on the reporting system
- being open to feedback from your team, ensuring that concerns are taken seriously, and changes are made accordingly
- taking safety committees and the role of safety officials seriously
Developing a positive safety culture and achieving high standards of safety depend on whole-hearted support of management and all seafarers. Those with specific safety responsibilities are more likely to perform well when management is clearly committed to health and safety. It’s also important that procedures are in place so that all seafarers can cooperate in establishing and maintaining safe working conditions and practices.
Seafarers on board, or their elected representatives, must be allowed to make representations to the company or their employer about health and safety matters. They need to be able to do so without risk of disadvantage to themselves. Such representations should be considered, perhaps in conjunction with the safety committee, and any agreed measures to improve safety put in place as soon as possible.
Risk assessments
The safety officer should be familiar with the principles and practice of risk assessment and should be available to advise those preparing and reviewing risk assessments. Where the safety officer also has other responsibilities (for example, a chief officer) they may well conduct risk assessments themselves. However, the general principle is that the safety officer takes an independent view of safety on behalf of the company. Appointing the Master as the safety officer is not generally advised. This is because the safety officer is required, among other duties, to make representations and recommendations on health and safety to the Master.
Seafarers, and in particular leaders, should be given tools to assess current attitudes and behaviours they possess and gaps that need to be addressed. This should aim to improve:
- operator and manager behaviour
- safe working
- supervisory behaviour
- rule-breaking
- situational awareness
- understanding and assessing personal risk
- managing change and making change last
- seeing yourself as others see you
- understanding own organisational culture
Research by Dr Little in 2004 found that there was more emphasis on technical skills than on leadership abilities in the training provided and in promotion criteria through the ranks, all the way up to master. Training quality was generally regarded to be low, suffering in particular from cost-reduction drives, which put pressure on training providers to reduce the scope and length of training courses.
A lack of investment in training can contribute to a poor safety culture. So, it’s important for seafarers to have access to personal and external resources, as well as appropriate training to conduct their tasks safely.
A just culture is founded on 2 principles that apply simultaneously to everyone in the organisation. These are that:
- human error is inevitable, and the organisation’s policies, processes and interfaces must be continually monitored and improved to accommodate those errors
- individuals should be accountable for their actions if they knowingly violate safety procedures or policies
In a just culture there is a high level of trust between workers and managers. Workers are encouraged or even rewarded for providing essential safety-related information. When incidents occur, the focus is on preventing it from occurring again. A just culture leads to a learning culture.
To note
“Just culture” is a term used by many, but it may not work well in your organisation, depending on a variety of factors. There are many terms that reflect differing approaches to safety culture, and this is just one. So please use what is useful from this section and do your own research to work out what kind of organisational culture would best address any problems you have within your organisation.
Incidents, errors and near misses are inevitable from time to time, but in a just culture these are treated as learning opportunities and although workers are held accountable for their actions, dismissals only occur if the incident was a direct result of an action intended to cause harm. Otherwise, the factors that contributed to the problem are identified, and workers are supported in their work environments to ensure the incident does not occur again.
Changing organisational culture is not easy and it’s not quick. But everyone’s actions make a difference.
Some proactive steps you can take
- Get to know your workplace and the habits and attitudes of those employed in it.
- Look and listen to what’s happening and be prepared to ask questions.
- Take on the responsibility of a safety official, or proactively listen to and encourage those that have the role.
- Contribute to lesson learning by being honest about mistakes, and always try to understand others.