Safety Culture?

How to Improve HSE Performance

through Measuring and Developing
Safety Culture

25/10/2017
 Summary of Presentation

Purpose and Objectives

What is Safety Culture?
What influences Safety Culture?
When to use Behaviour Interventions
Diagnostic and Measuring Tools
Advantages and Disadvantages
ModuSpec Self Assessment Process
Report Information
 Summary of Presentation
(cont)
Climate Survey demo
Conclusions
 Objectives

To provide:
An insight into the topic of Safety (HSE)
Culture and what it takes to establish a
successful culture
An understanding of why measuring safety
culture is an important pre-cursor to
applying any Behavioural Safety
intervention or modification
An overview of a Safety Climate process
through demonstration and use of the
tools
 Poor Safety Culture

Accidents that result in severe injuries may

not be random events, rather their causal
factors may derive from an accumulation,
over time, of deficiencies in an organizations
safety culture

We are convinced that the management

practices overseeing the Shuttle program
were as much a cause of the accident as the
foam that struck the left wing CAIB Report
 A Good Example of Safety
Culture

E. I. Dupont starting manufacturing

explosives in the early 1800s
Developed concept of separation
distances for the powder mills and
designed buildings so that explosions
would go upwards or away from occupied
buildings
Built his house inside the plant and
insisted managers also live inside the
plant
Developed plant rules and procedures
 Definitions

Safety Culture
The collective values and attitudes of
people in the organization Step Change
Behavioural Issues Task Group

The knowledge, values, norms, ideas

and attitudes which characterize a
group of people
Seldom a unified or homogenous
quantity, usually diversified,
fragmented and split into sub-cultures
 Definitions

Safety Climate
Surface snapshot of the state of safety
providing an indicator of the underlying
safety culture Step Change Behavioural Issues Task Group
Behavioural Aspects of Safety
The way organizations act out their safety
management systems and how systems
operate in reality. Includes safety culture,
safety leadership and behaviour
modification
Safety Culture What is it?

The product of individual and group

values, attitudes, perceptions,
competencies and patterns of
behaviour that determine the
commitment to and style and
proficiency of an organizations health
and safety management ACSNI 1993
The way we do things around here CBI
1990
 Safety Culture What is it?

As the Board investigated the Columbia accident, it expected

to find a vigorous safety organiztion, process and culture at
NASA, bearing little resemblance to the ineffective silent
safety system identified during Challenger Disaster (86)

NASAs initial briefings to the Board on its safety programs

espoused a risk averse philosophy that empowered any
employee to stop an operation at the mere glimmer of a
problem

Unfortunately, NASAs views of its safety culture, did not

reflect reality CAIB Report
Imagine the difference if a Shuttle Program Manager had
simply asked Prove to me that Columbia has not been
harmed by the foam strike
 Frequently Asked
Questions
What does a good safety culture look like?
How do you know if the safety culture is
improving?
What are the key issues to focus upon
first?
When to stop working on a specific safety
culture issue and move onto the next
Is it always necessary to survey staff to
measure safety culture?
How does behaviour modification link to
safety culture improvement?
Improvements in Safety
Performance
 Road to QHSE Culture
- Warning signs
- Training
- Inspections / Maintenance
plans
- Regulatory compliance
Incident Frequency

- Incident reporting / - Performance Analysis

investigations - Refresher training
- Auditing and Management
Reduction
Review
through
- Change Management process
TRADITIONAL
QHSE
- Human Behavioural
PROGRAMS Reduction through Implications
addition of - Procedural compliance
ADVANCED APPROACHES - Obligation to intervene
WITH SUPPORTING - Empowerment to stop the job
SYSTEMS

Time - Maturity of QHSE Approach

Reduction through further
addition of MODERN
APPROACHES
 Safety Culture Change

Peoples attitudes and opinions have

been formed over decades of life and
cannot be changed by having a few
meetings or giving a few lectures

(Mao Tse Tung)

 Sound Safety Culture

A sound safety culture is INFORMED

Good reporting systems
Just and fair
Learning from experiences
Flexible and adaptable

James Reason 2001

 Sound Culture

Reporting Culture
Organizations with little trust often find it
difficult to get people to admit to their own
mistakes
Just and Fair
Reaction to the reporting of events should be
proportionate to the intentions behind and the
consequences of an action
Organizations which apply sanctions in a fair
and just manner will build trust and creativity
 Sound Culture

Flexible and adaptable

Organizations which want creative
contributions from its employees must
have a degree of tolerance. E.g. value a
verbal exchange of experience and
creativity if it means work will be safer.
 Sound Safety Culture

Learning
The ability to share knowledge across
organizational boundaries is a key
aspect of a sound safety culture e.g.
are employees fully involved in
decisions affecting their safety and
health?
Conflicting objectives are a way of life
i.e. do the job quickly and efficiently,
but do it safely without getting hurt
 Management and Culture

The significance of the way managers

speak and behave is often
underestimated
Managers who only get involved after
the event e.g. an accident will not
enjoy the same credibility as those
who were involved all the time
 Behavioural Issues

Behavioural issues are extremely

important
Behaviour turns systems and procedures into
reality
Good safety performance is determined by the
way an organization lives its systems and
processes
Example of airlines -
Fly similar aeroplanes
Similar standards of pilot training
Risk to passengers varies by a factor of 42
 What Influences Safety
Culture?
Interaction between:
The person
The job
Organizational factors
Unsafe behaviour may have been the
final act in an accident sequence, but
worker behaviour will have been
influenced by the job, work
environment and the organization
What Influences Safety
Culture?

Person

Safety
Safety Climate Culture

Organization Job
 What Influences Safety
Culture?
Safety performance is improved when
all factors job, environment and
organization are considered
Requires behavioural changes at all
levels in the organization, not just at
workplace
People behave the way they do
because of the consequences that
result for themselves after doing it.
Who Influences Safety Culture?

If there are safety problems, it is

because the behaviours producing the
problems are being reinforced
Managers and supervisors change
worker behaviours by their own action
or inaction
Focusing only on the front line worker
will not result in positive changes
Who Influences Safety Culture?

Management has the most influence

How do they walk the talk and
demonstrate safety leadership?
Field visits to talk knowledgeably about
safety e.g. accident stats and near misses
Safety manager is a full member of the
senior management team
 Demonstrate Management
Commitment
Senior managers meet to discuss safety
performance against objectives and targets
Time off provided for safety training.
Managers safety leadership appraisal and
self assessment questionnaire
Managers lead Safety Orientation training
Adequate # of safety professionals are
available to assist operational and field staff.
(Not to take over!!)
 Behaviour Modification Pre-
conditions

Is a significant proportion of accidents

primarily caused by the behaviour of front
line workers?
Do a majority of managers and
supervisors want to reduce the current
accident rate?
Will management be comfortable with
empowering and delegating some
authority for safety to workers?
Is management willing to trust the results
produced by the workers?
Are the workers willing to trust
management?
 Behaviour Modification Pre-
conditions
Is there a high level of management
involvement in safety?
Is management willing to provide the
necessary time and resources for workers
to be trained and to carry out
observations?
Has a program champion or champions
been identified?
Are the existing communication
processes adequate for the increased
communication and feedback between
management and workers?
 Behavioural Change
Conclusions
Any behavioural modification program
needs a strongly implemented and robust
HSE MS as a foundation
Research and practical evidence shows
significant improvements can be achieved
by implementing appropriate behaviour
interventions
Behavioural modification initiatives
unlikely to be successful unless job
environment and organization factors also
considered
 Behavioural Change
Conclusions
Intervention tools which work at one
location, may not work at another
Suitability of behavioural tools is
influenced by the existing safety
culture
A Safety Culture model provides a
framework to identify current level
and identify appropriate action to
improve and move to next level
 Cultural maturity model

Continually
Improving
Level 5
Cooperating Ensure
consistency
Level 4

Involving Develop cooperation

between management
Level 3 and frontline workers

Managing
Involve frontline
Level 2 staff and develop
personal
Emerging responsibility
Develop
Level 1 management
commitment Kiel Centre
The Journey
Safety Culture Assessment

Diagnostic tools
Safety climate surveys
Structured workshops
Combination of the above

Results assist in selection of

appropriate behaviour modification
program and planning in how to
implement
 Tools to Improve Safety

Diagnostic
Used to identify issues, which require improvement

Intervention
Improve safety by addressing specific safety
behaviours

Establishing where an organizations safety

culture maturity lies is key to selecting
appropriate behaviour modification programs
and implementing them effectively
 Safety Culture Improvement
Process

Assess current level

Develop plan to improve
Implement plan
Monitor implementation
Re-assess to evaluate success and
identify further actions
Questionnaires Pros and Cons

Wide coverage Limitedexplanation,

Can ask for yes/no or understanding of
sliding scale responses
responses No discussion of

Flexible timing for remedies,

respondents improvements
Standard format easy No commitment to

to summarize change
 Regular Meetings Pros and
Cons
Regular, frequent Regular agenda
opportunities items intrude
Real players are in No fresh
the room perspectives
Decisions can be Unequal status of
made participants
Commitment to act Internal problems go
unchallenged
 Self Assessment

Carefully considered evaluation

resulting in a judgment of the
effectiveness and efficiency of the
organization and the maturity of its
HSE Management System
Self Assessment provides fact based
guidance on where to invest resources
for optimum improvement
Self Assessment and Audit

Self Assessment
those who have the knowledge and
expertise perform the evaluation

Audit
auditee provides information to auditor
who performs the evaluation
 ModuSpec Self Assessment
Process
Combination of Survey Questionnaire
and Facilitated workshop
Complements the audit process by
focusing resources on prioritized areas
Where to use?
Need to measure status of HSE MS
performance and the safety culture
 Self Assessment Deliverables

Comprehensive review of HSE MS to provide

status of:
Compliance, performance and effectiveness
Reliable identification of HSE Culture and all
major concerns and strengths
Full understanding of underlying factors
Prioritized action plan for continual
improvement
Commitment and support from all levels
Facilitated Workshop Pros and
Cons
Brainstorming plus Time consuming for
standard questions participants
Key players in room Limited coverage

Focus and equality Participants all come

Deep discussion to location

New benchmarks Is there adequate

Electronic voting =
time to develop action
speed, anonymity plans?
 Workshop principles

Open, frank communication

Trust
Everyone's input is important
The person who performs the task
understands it better than anyone else
Group comments may be shared
externally but individual anonymity is
preserved
 Combination HSE Self
Assessment Process

Preliminary Mixed Team

Analysis Workshops
Employee
Questionnaire
Analyze

Management
Workshop(s)
Prioritized
No Action Decisions Action Plan

Audit Key Risks

 Combination Advantages

Wide coverage to gather data

Deep discussion to understand
Managers/staff collaborative effort
Accurate final analysis
Graphic + Qualitative reporting
Save audit for key risk areas
Management workshop takes
decisions and feeds into business
(action) plan
 This Company Walks the Talk
on Safety

7 Strongly
agree

1 Strongly
disagree
 Just What Were Looking For

This company walks the talk on safety.

Votes
7
6 6

5
4 4

3
2 2

1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree Agree
 A Specific Problem Known
Only to a Few
This company walks the talk on safety.
Votes
7
6
5 5

4
3 3

2 2

1 1 1

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree Agree
 Abandon Ship!!

This company walks the talk on safety.

Votes
7
6 6

5
4 4

3
2 2

1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree Agree
 HSE Corporate Profile

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a s m P S P ps w o u o
Le A s C o E O Em A C m M
S om
H C
 BU Comparisons

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4
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North South Central

Workshop Output
 Conclusions

The need to understand Safety Culture or

Human Factors is the way of the future if we
are to improve safety performance
Everyones doing it!
UK - Culture Maturity Model and Climate
Questionnaires
Canada Safety Stand Down Week Perception
Survey, Imperial, CPC, Shell Hearts and Minds
US Dan Petersen Perception Surveys started in
the early 90s on railroads
 Conclusions

In the 80s, there was UPITFOS, which

initiated the Basic Safety Program (BSP) and
Certificate of Recognition (COR)
Is Safety Culture the step change needed for
the beginning of the 21st century?
Should we draw closer parallels to Quality
Management and use Six Sigma Safety
Culture approach?
Statistical information from the UK offshore
and North America would suggest that
significant improvements are resulting from
Safety Culture initiatives