“Culture is our set of beliefs and values; nothing is as powerful as when our choices, decisions, behaviors, attitudes, and habits align with our values, it becomes transcircumstantial. It is so potent that safety is assumed as a guiding principle of life. In addition, there are no values to be kept secret, values are demonstrated, they are not desires; they are marked by caring attitudes.”
It is necessary to understand that culture is a reflection of people’s beliefs and values, which becomes visible from their choices and behavior.
The term Safety Culture first emerged during the investigation of the Chernobyl accident. Where process and management failures could not be attributed, there was something greater than all of that, which resides within people, their Safety Culture.
The functioning of Culture is comparable to an onion, with its respective layers. We have the first layer with the rituals, which are the routine events that reinforce safe practices and behavior. Examples of these include daily safety talks (DDS), committee meetings, the CIPA (Internal Accident Prevention Committee) process, inspections, checklists, and work permits (PTs). We can draw a comparison to evangelical church services when comparing safety culture to Christian culture.
The second layer are the symbols which reinforce the commitment and the presence of safety, through visible artefacts. Such as: PPEs, signage and barriers, boards with KPIs and communications. Once again, when we draw the comparison, we can have the Bible, crucifix, and other images of saints.
The third layer refers to the heroes, which can also be called leaders, the highest authority, the executive committee; they are the ones who show the way in Safety, and their examples become true rules of conduct. In religion we have Jesus, when we talk about Safety Culture we have the leaders, each organization has its own.
Finally, there is a dynamic cross-sectional layer that interacts with all the others, aligning them in a way that creates an environment of trust, coherence, and ongoing safety. The challenge is for safety to be chosen every moment, everywhere, every day.
By understanding how culture works, it is possible to create stimuli and direct tools which associated to the rituals, symbols, heroes and communication can strengthen the Safety Culture in a way that it becomes a value and influences the lives of our employees in every aspect.
This is the challenge!
