{"id":1238,"date":"2021-07-23T17:55:57","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T17:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dummy.xtemos.com\/woodmart2\/?p=1238"},"modified":"2025-08-31T21:37:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T21:37:30","slug":"safety-culture-in-osh-management-target-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.vormia.com\/2025\/ergotutus\/2021\/07\/23\/safety-culture-in-osh-management-target-level\/","title":{"rendered":"Safety Culture in OSH Management: Target Level"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The ILO theme for World Day for Safety & Health at Work 2022 is:
\n\u2018\u2019Act together to build a posi tive safety and health culture.\u2019\u2019
\n<\/em>With a sub-theme of focus on enhancing social dialogue towards a culture of Safety & Health.<\/p>\n

As such my talk will focus on safety culture and how it has been applied in the OSH Management.<\/p>\n

What is Safety Culture:<\/strong>
\nDefinition of this term has come from public enquiries investigating serious accidents or disasters and from research bodies. These definitions cite poor management controls as key factor leading directly to these serious accidents or disasters.
\nIn the nuclear reactor disaster at Chernobyl in 1986, lack of a safety culture is said to have played a major part. The enquiry found that the team in control of the reactor, removed layer after layer of the safety controls to complete an unusual test quickly. Because of this, the reactor become unstable resulting in the disaster.<\/p>\n

The enquiry concluded that for the control team to be able to do what it did, the managerial culture at the reactor did not discourage taking of risks where other priorities intervened.
\nTherefore, effective OSH management require development of a positive safety culture based on proactive management of safety issues. Proactive here referring to the values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies and behaviors that acknowledge existence of workplaces hazards and consistent application of control measures.<\/p>\n

What is safety & health concerned with:<\/strong>
\nThis brings us to ask ourselves what safety & health is concerned with.
\nSafety and health is concerned with four things.
\n1. Hazards.
\n2. Incidents & accidents
\n3. Harm \u2013 injuries and ill-health.
\n4. Risk
\nMost of you may know how the four are related.
\nIncidents & accidents are caused by hazards. Harm is the result of accidents.
\nWhile the likelihood of incidents\/accidents occurring and causing harm is risk.<\/p>\n

Where do we expect to find these hazards?<\/strong>
\nHazards are found in all places where human activities are taking place. These include workplaces, homes, public places and social places.<\/p>\n

What then causes accidents?<\/strong>
\nThe answer to that simple question determines our attitude, response and behavior towards hazards within our environment.
\nThe responses will differ from one person to another, one workplace to another, one organization to another. These differing responses is what makes the Safety Culture.
\nThere are those who believe accidents have no causes. They just happen and there is nothing we can do about it. It is the will of God. It is some kind of witch craft.
\nOrganizations, workplaces and individuals that recognize the existence of hazards within their workplaces and believe that accidents are caused by hazards, will seek to systematically identify them and ensure they remain under control to prevent them causing harm to people(Risk Assessment).<\/p>\n

It therefore means that a positive safety culture begins with the believe that accidents that cause harm to people are themselves caused by hazards. What then are Safety Culture Maturity Models?
\nThere are various safety culture maturity models in use currently in OSH management.
\nThese safety culture maturity models provide organizations with means of knowing where they are in terms of safety management and thereby be able to start their performance improvement journey.
\nThe most used performance measurement in safety is injury rates. These are basically ratios of number of injuries in a workplace over the total number of employees multiplied by a factor, mostly 200,000. Organization with high injury rates are believed to have a very poor safety culture. In these organizations, a management system that identifies and controls hazards is not in place.<\/p>\n

Types of Safety Culture Maturity Models:<\/strong>
\nPrograms that form the safety management systems are now well established.
\nThe adoption and how effectively they have been implemented by an
\norganization, determine its safety culture level.
\nTherefore, all safety culture maturity models measure which programmes are in place and how effective they are.<\/p>\n

We will briefly look at three of these models and one of them in slightly more details. The three models are: –
\n1. HSE safety culture maturity model
\n2. OGP HSE Culture Tools
\n3. DuPont Bradley Curve.<\/p>\n

1. HSE Safety Culture Maturity Model
\nOrganizations progress sequentially through 5 levels.<\/p>\n

i) Level 1: Emerging<\/strong>
\nMany accidents are seen as unavoidable and as part of the job.<\/p>\n

ii) Level 2: Managing<\/strong>
\nSafety is solely defined in terms of adherence to rules and procedures
\nand engineering controls. Accidents are seen as preventable.<\/p>\n

iii) Level 3: Involving<\/strong>
\nThe organization is convinced that the involvement of the frontline
\nemployees in health and safety is critical. The majority of staff accept
\npersonal responsibility for their own health and safety.<\/p>\n

iv) Level 4: Cooperating<\/strong>
\nFrontline staff accept personal responsibility for their own and others
\nhealth and safety.<\/p>\n

v) Level 5: Continuous Improvement<\/strong>
\nAll employees share the belief that health and safety is a critical
\naspect of their job and accept that prevention of non-work injuries is
\nimportant.<\/p>\n

2. OGP HSE Culture Tools<\/strong>
\nThe HSE Culture ladder describe five levels of HSE culture
\ni)<\/strong> Pathological:
\nRespond to clear regulatory requirements, if enforced and
\nimplement HSE programs only as needed to avoid prosecution.
\nBelieve individuals at lower levels cause accidents.
\nii)<\/strong> Reactive:
\nAddress problems obvious to both management and the workforce.
\niii) Calculative:
\nBelieve in the value of systems in managing HSE performance and
\nthe use of a large number of tools and training.
\niv)<\/strong> Proactive:
\nHSE is a fundamental (Core) value and leaders at all levels genuinely
\ncare for the health and well-being of the staff and contractors.
\nv)<\/strong> Generative:<\/p>\n

Everyone feels free to highlight both real and potential issues. Workers
\nfeel empowered to resolve HSE issues, and leaders provide the
\nsupport needed.<\/p>\n

3. The Bradley Curve<\/strong>
\nThe Bradley Curve was developed in 1994 by DuPont, a company recognized globally as having an exemplary record in safety.
\nBased on the believe that an organization\u2019s safety performance can be
\nimproved to Approach Zero Incidents.
\nOrganizations progress is in two phases: Traditional and Improvement Phase.
\nDuring traditional phase, there are no controls and performance is random.<\/p>\n

Achieving zero is impossible.
\nThe Improvement Phase is also divided into two levels.
\n\u2022 Implementation & Maintenance of critical Technical Control Processes.
\no Individuals and team\u2019s performance should never sacrifice them.
\n\u2022 EHS Culture Improvement Process (Bradley Curve).
\no Driving towards Zero Incidents.
\nEHS Culture Improvement Process (Bradley Curve)<\/p>\n

Organization progress in three stages:
\ni) Stage 1: Dependent Phase<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Supervisor Driven
\no Management Commitment
\no Condition of Employment
\no Rules
\no Compliance is focus
\no Fear\/Discipline
\n\u2022 Zero is Unrealistic
\nii) Stage 2: Independent Phase<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Self-interest driven
\no Personal Commitment
\no Self-Managing
\no Self-Discipline
\no Self-Responsibility
\no Personal Goals
\n\u2022 Zero by Chance
\niii) Stage 3: Interdependent Phase<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Team driven
\no EH&S is a Value
\no Team Commitment
\no Help Others Conform
\no Concern for all
\no Team Goals
\n\u2022 Zero by Choice<\/p>\n

Characteristics of each phase:
\nDependent:<\/strong>
\n\u2022Safety Meetings run by Management
\n\u2022 Mandatory Compliance Safety Training
\n\u2022 Management Driven Incident Investigations
\n\u2022 Site and Unit Focus on Rules and Procedures
\n\u2022 Compliance Inspections and Audits
\n\u2022 Fear of Discipline is the Motivator
\n\u2022 Management Defined Goals and Reviews<\/p>\n

Independent:<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Employees Facilitate Safety Meetings
\n\u2022 Training on Best Practices
\n\u2022 Employees in Incident Investigations
\n\u2022 Behavior Based Safety Programs
\n\u2022 Employees Complete Area Self-Inspections
\n\u2022 Reward and Recognition Programs
\n\u2022 EH&S Component in All Goals and Reviews<\/p>\n

Interdependent:<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Teams Run Safety Meeting Process
\n\u2022 Teams Define Training Required
\n\u2022 Teams Lead Investigations
\n\u2022 Team Defines and Runs BBS Programs
\n\u2022 Teams Define and Complete Inspections
\n\u2022 Team Reward and Recognition Focus
\n\u2022 Teams Define EH&S Goals, 360\u00b0 Feedback<\/p>\n

Conclusion:<\/strong>
\nMost organization target their safety culture to be at least at the mid-point maturity models. At this level, safety standards have been established and enforced while all workers understand the importance of safety rules and procedures and follow them voluntarily.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t[\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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