OHSIGConference Auckland1112September2008

GrahamJFHunt
EmbryRiddleAeronauticalUniversity,Florida,USA
Auckland 12September2008

Whatdowemeanbytheterm OrganizationalSafetyCulture? Howcanyouidentifythestatus ofyourorganization'ssafety cultureandmeasurethe progressofitsdevelopment?

What do we know about organizational climate and

culture?
Notasmuchaswesometimesthink.
Itsaconcept,notaconcretephenomenon Theconceptmaybeinterpreted frommany differentperspectives Psychological Social Organizational Itsrelativelystable

What do we know about organizational climate and

culture?
Itsaffectedbyanumber offactors
Humanfactors Organizationalfactors Policyfactors Environmentalfactors

Example a Human Factors issue situational awareness

SITUATION AWARENESS
projection of the Future Status Level 3
perception of elements in the current situation Level 1

comprehension of the current situation Level 2

From Mica Endsley, 1988

Organizational safety climate and culture

Cultureisasetofprocessesthatshapesthe organizationsresponses tothechallengesthe organizationfaces. Organizationalcultureisanalogoustothe personalityofanindividual Westrum,2004

Organizational safety climate and culture

Safetyclimateisamanifestationorsnapshotof safetyculture(Flinetal,2000) Climateisreflectedintheworkforcesperceptions oftheorganizationalatmosphere(Flinetal2000) Climateiscultureinthemaking(Schein,1992)

ulture and limate C C

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Culture

Climate

Safety Culture
SafetyCultureisthesharedbeliefs,attitudes,and valuesofourworkforce its thewaywedothingsaroundhere ...wheresafetyconsciousbehaviourbecomes secondnature toallstaff

Ron Westrum
Leadersshapeanorganizationsculture.Theyare eitherpreoccupiedwith
personalpower,needsandglory 2. rules,positionsanddepartmentalturf 3. themissionitself wheredowewanttogoandwhat dowewanttobe?
1.

Types of culture
how organizations respond to challenges (Westrum) PATHOLOGICAL
Power Oriented
low cooperation messengers shot responsibilities shirked Effects of failure:scapegoating innovation crushed

BUREAUCRATIC
Rule Oriented
modest cooperation messengers neglected narrow responsibilities effects of failure:justice innovation a problem

GENERATIVE
Performance Oriented
high cooperation messengers trained risks are shared effects of failure:inquiry innovation implemented

Bringing about change

Whatpeoplewanttodo notjustdoingwhattheyve beentoldtodoorareexpectedtodo Choosingthepeoplewhoalreadyhaveinfluencewith theirfellowworkersandcanthemselvesbechanged

HSE Culture Ladder (Hudson)

GENERATIVE
Safety is how we do business round here

PROACTIVE
We work on the problems that we still find

CALCULATIVE
We have systems in place to manage all hazards

REACTIVE
Safety is important, we do a lot every time we have an accident.

PATHOLOGICAL
Who cares as long as were not caught

Understanding the processes in culture change

Pre-intervention + Post-intervention Interventions Success or failure Why?
fatalities LTIs health equipment property cost focus group reports questionnaires observational data

quantitative

qualitative

Workplace Safety and Climate Questionnaire qualitative measure

40itemquestionnaire 7factors
situationalawareness communicationandreporting managementissues trainingandeducation justculture teamcoordination competency

Reactive culture
Whenever we have an accident the company immediately puts more emphasis on safety
50 45 40 35 30

25 20 15 10 5 0 Strongly disagree Disagree Not sure/don't know Agree Strongly agree

HSE Culture Ladder (Hudson)

GENERATIVE
Safety is how we do business round here

PROACTIVE
We work on the problems that we still find

CALCULATIVE
We have systems in place to manage all hazards

REACTIVE
Safety is important, we do a lot every time we have an accident.

PATHOLOGICAL
Who cares as long as were not caught

Attitudes - Just culture

People should be held responsible for the consequences of any mistakes they make
50 45 40 35

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Strongly disagree Disagree Not sure/don't know Agree Strongly agree

Generative culture?
The companys safety culture is mainly about what kinds of safety rules and procedures we have to follow
45 40 35 30 25

20 15 10 5 0 Strongly disagree Disagree Not sure/don't know Agree Strongly agree

HSE Culture Ladder (Hudson)

GENERATIVE
Safety is how we do business round here

PROACTIVE
We work on the problems that we still find

CALCULATIVE
We have systems in place to manage all hazards

REACTIVE
Safety is important, we do a lot every time we have an accident.

PATHOLOGICAL
Who cares as long as were not caught

Understanding the processes in culture change

Pre-intervention measures Interventions Training& education programs Policyissues Management issues Organizational issues Humanfactor tools Post-intervention measures Success or failure Why?

Understanding the processes in culture change

Measures Post-intervention measures
fatalities LTIs health equipment property cost focus group reports questionnaires observational data

quantitative

qualitative

A Human factors classification tool

HAZARDS

ERRORS

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

Types of hazards
HAZARDSMEANING Unexpectedenvironmentalhazards unexpectedphysicalhazards Anticipatedenvironmentalhazards knownphysicalhazards Unexpectedorganizationalhazards suddenchangesinresourcesor practices Knownorganizationalhazards knownpolicyorresourcepractices

Types of errors
ERRORS Perceptualerrors Memorylapse Slip Rulebasederror Violation Knowledgebasederrors Mischance MEANING failingtoseethings forgettingtodoit doingthewrongthing makingamistake deviatingfromproceduresor knowngoodpractice notknowingwhattodo doingtherightthing,butin thisevent,beingwrong

Contributing factors
Fatigue Pressure Coordination Training Supervision Previous deviation Procedures normally related to a lack of night time sleep or night shift work work performed under high time pressure inadequate coordination between team members or communication between workers inadequate job-related knowledge with workers inadequate charge of workers previous incorrect performance poorly designed, poorly documented or non-existent procedures, or inappropriate procedures routinely accepted by management poorly or inappropriately designed or maintained equipment poor environment for the worker to work in (noise, dust, etc,) workers performance affected by medical condition, or by sensory or physiological limitations

Equipment Environment Physiological

Types of errors in maintenance

(Hobbs and Williamson, 2003)

%ofOccurence
Environmentalevent Mischance Perceptualerror Hardwareevent Rulebased error Slip Knowledgebased error Unclassifiablebehaviour Violation Memorylapse

10

15

20

25

Factors contributing to the incident

(Hobbs and Williamson, 2003)

Operational Workplace Safety Audit

hazards
reporting
organized defences hazard strategies

Assess and avoid trap

errors

mitigate missed

consequences

investigate

safety recommendations

Conclusions
Everyorganizationhasasafetyculture some organizationshaveaverygoodanddynamicone others,notsogoodordynamic Buildingasafetycultureisnotaoneoffevent Atrainingprogram,byitself,isneverthemagic bullet Collectincompanydata(climate,incidentand auditingtools)tohelptaketheworkforcefrom wheretheyaretowhere(theyagree)theywanttobe