3.2 Health and Safety Culture

Question 1

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) suggest that the safety culture of an organisation could be described as:

Answer 1

“the ideas and beliefs that all members of the organisation share about risk, accidents
and ill health”.

Question 2

Some key aspects of an effective culture include:

Answer 2

Management commitment

Visible management

Good communications

Active employee participation

Effective health and safety training

Question 3

Management commitment should be demonstrated by

Answer 3

the proportion of resources
(time, money, people) and support allocated to health and safety management and by
the relative status of health and safety against other business priorities such as
production, cost etc.

Question 4

Following a significant increase in accidents, a campaign is planned to improve the health and safety culture of an organisation.

Identify reasons why the current safety procedures may not have been followed. (8)

Answer 4

lack of management commitment
unrealistic targets
lack of adequate resources
lack of adequate communication and consultation
failure to provide necessary training and information inadequate levels of supervision and monitoring repetitive nature of the tasks
environmental factors such as noise and inadequate lighting.

Question 5

Identify the factors that might cause a positive health and safety culture in an organisation to decline. (8)

Answer 5

lack of visible leadership and commitment
loss of key personnel
the lack of effective communication
health and safety not given priority
lack of consultation with and involvement of the workforce
failure by management to implement and maintain risk controls or investigate accidents
poor working environment
inadequate welfare facilities
unrealistic and unachievable targets
presence of a blame culture
high staff turnover
external influences such as a downturn in the economy leading to job insecurity

Question 6

Following a significant increase in accidents, a campaign is planned to improve the health and safety culture of an organisation.

Identify how the organisation might ensure that the campaign is effectively communicated to, and understood by employees. (8)

Answer 6

objectives made clear
appropriate language 
jargon should be avoided
variety of means of communication  
commitment of senior management to the campaign allocation of responsibilities 
consultation with the workforce 
regular feedback
updates on the progress of the campaign 
review on completion