Chapter 10.2.1 Organisational Culture: A Search for Meaning
Abstract:
Since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 there has been an explosion of academic and organisational interest in safety culture. However, the body of safety culture literature harbours unresolved debates and definitional dilemmas. As a result, safety culture remains a confusing and ambiguous concept in both the literature and in industry, where there is little evidence of a relationship between safety culture and safety performance. This chapter investigates the concept of safety culture, and finds it to have limited utility for occupational health and safety (OHS) professional practice. Informed by a literature review, interviews with key stakeholders and focus group discussions, it concludes that workplace safety may be better served by shifting from a focus on changing ‘safety culture’ to changing organisational and management practices that have an immediate and direct impact on risk control in the workplace. The chapter identifies characteristics of an organisation that focuses on safety, and concludes by considering the implications for OHS practice.
Keywords: organisational culture, organisational climate, safety culture, safety climate, leadership, culture change
First year of publication: 2014
Current Version: 2019
Chapter 10.2.1: Organisational Culture: A Search for Meaning
Table of contents
| 1 | Introduction |
| 2 | Historical context |
| 2.1 | Evolution of the concepts of safety culture and safety climate |
| 2.2 | Safety culture in the literature |
| 3 | Definitional dilemmas |
| 3.1 | Safety culture |
| 3.2 | Safety climate |
| 3.3 | Organisational culture |
| 4 | Safety culture as the problem and the solution |
| 4.1 | Identifying a ‘positive safety culture’ |
| 4.2 | Framework for a cultural understanding of organisations |
| 5 | Reflecting on the literature |
| 5.1 | Four questions from the safety culture debates |
| 5.2 | General uncertainty in the literature |
| 6 | Opinions of key stakeholders |
| 6.1 | Views of researchers |
| 6.2 | Views of OHS professionals |
| 6.3 | Views of SME consultants |
| 7 | Analysis of evidence from the literature, interviews and focus groups |
| 7.1 | What does an organisation that focuses on safety look like? |
| 8 | Legislation |
| 9 | Implications for OHS practice |
| 10 | Summary |
Key thinkers
References
David Borys PhD, MAppSc(OHS), GCertEd, AssocDip(OHS)
David Borys is an independent safety educator and researcher based in the United States. He provides research supervision support at RMIT University and Federation University Australia and taught safety management at East Carolina University. Previously he was the Program Coordinator for the Graduate Diploma in Occupational Hazard Management at Federation University Australia.
The OHS Body of Knowledge takes a conceptual approach which enables it to be applied in different contexts and frameworks.
To optimise its value for education and professional development learning outcomes have been developed for each technical chapter in the Body of Knowledge.
The learning outcomes as described give an indication of what should be the capabilities of an OHS professional; it is up to those developing OHS education programs, OHS professionals planning their CPD or recruiters or employers selecting or developing people for the OHS function to consider the required breadth vs. depth .
Please read the section on using the learning outcomes before delving into the leaning outcomes of the individual chapters.
The numbers against each learning outcome refer to the chapter number of the BOK download page. No learning outcomes have been developed for the chapters considered introductory or underpinning knowledge (that is chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1, .13, 14, 15.)
Videos
SWA videos: The Use of Abuse of Culture
The terms ‘culture’ and particularly ‘safety culture’ are widely used yet misunderstood. A better understanding can make workplaces safer.
Date: 2018
Presenters: Professor Andrew Hopkins
Source: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/media-centre/use-and-abuse-culture
SWA videos: Risk and profitability – Reflections and insights
What motivates organisations to improve their safety culture? Professor Hudson examines the persuasive powers of both inadequate and proficient WHS performance.
Date: 2018
Presenters: Patrick Hudson
Source: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/media-centre/risk-and-profitability-reflections-and-insights-patrick-hudson
Podcasts
Safety of Work Podcast: Ep 64: What is the full story of just culture (Part 1)
Safety culture and the Swiss Cheese Model and the definition of a just culture. Who is the focus and why it’s important? Listening and actually hearing. Systemic and individual action. Can an individual be too much of a danger? Preventing unnecessary blame.
Date: 2021
Presenters:Drew Rae & David Provan
Source: https://safetyofwork.com/episodes/ep-64-what-is-the-full-story-of-just-culture-part-1
Safety of Work Podcast: Ep 65: What is the full story of just culture (Part 2)
The problem with rewarding good behaviour. How a retributive system functions. The standard for risk assessment. How restorative culture functions. Why sharing experiences is key. What is expected under a solid restorative justice system? Understanding rule-breakers. How the book fails to properly dissect rule-breaking.
Date: 2021
Presenters: Drew Rae & David Provan
Source: https://safetyofwork.com/episodes/ep65-what-is-the-full-story-of-just-culture-part-2
Safety of Work Podcast: Ep 66: What is the full story of just culture (Part 3)
Creating a solid reporting system. At what point does something become an incident? Voluntary vs. mandatory reporting. When your organisation is facing prosecution. How reporting gets stifled. The problem with penalties. Looking after all parties involved in incidents. The outcomes safety professionals want.
Date: 2021
Presenters: Drew Rae & David Provan
Source: https://safetyofwork.com/episodes/ep66-what-is-the-full-story-of-just-culture-part-3
Safety of Work Podcast: Ep: 52: What is the relationship between safety climate and injuries?
Retrospective studies. Organizational and psychological safety climates. Perception of safety and actual safety. Designing research to answer your question. Influence of injuries on safety climate. Contamination.
Date: 2020
Presenters: Drew Rae & David Provan
Source: https://safetyofwork.com/episodes/ep52-what-is-the-relationship-between-safety-climate-and-injuries
Safety of Work Podcast: Ep 44: What do we mean when we talk about safety culture?
How “safety culture” came about in the 1970’s. What Chernobyl has to do with safety culture. Safety culture vs. safety climate. What the paper studied and what it concluded. The factors that influence the definition of safety culture. Who studies and talks about safety culture the least. Types of studies done on safety culture.
Date: 2020
Presenters: Drew Rae & David Provan
Source: https://safetyofwork.com/episodes/ep44-what-do-we-mean-when-we-talk-about-safety-culture
Safety of Work Podcast: Ep 33: How can institutional logics help us move beyond safety culture?
On what institutional logic focuses. Why institutional logic gives us a fresh start. Local rationalities. How the authors of the paper compiled their research. The seven logics. Understanding institutional logic. Why it’s hard to change institutional logic.
Date: 2020
Presenters: Drew Rae & David Provan
Source: https://safetyofwork.com/episodes/ep33-can-institutional-logics-help-us-move-beyond-safety-culture
Safety of Work Podcast: Ep 12: Is adopting a zero harm policy good for safety?
The concept of zero-harm. The pros and cons of a zero-harm approach. When management makes safety-focused decisions. Can zero-harm lead to distorted reporting? Can you accurately compare zero and non-zero groups in a study?
Date: 2020
Presenters: Drew Rae & David Provan
Source: https://safetyofwork.com/episodes/ep12-is-adopting-a-zero-harm-policy-good-for-safety
Safety of Work Podcast: Ep 4: What is the relationship between trust and safety?
The relationship between safety and trust is harder to define than one would expect. We use the works of one doctor to help us understand this topic. Trust doesn’t necessarily lead to safer work environments. However, too much distrust can lead to an unhealthy workplace. How to create trust.
Date: 2019
Presenters: Drew Rae & David Provan
Source: https://safetyofwork.com/episodes/ep4-what-is-the-relationship-between-trust-and-safety
Webinars
AIHS Webinar: Looking back, going forward: Organisational culture and safety
The first of a series of four webinars – this webinar charts the historical developments of safety and so provides an introduction to three in-depth and practice-focused workshops that will follow. Should we abandon the concept altogether, or instead rally behind safety culture and salvage all that we can.
Date: 2020
Presenters: Tristan Casey
Source: https://youtu.be/zKLwTK-tNug