Module 2

Promoting a Positive
Health and Safety Culture
Introduction
In the United Kingdom in 1972, a Government Inquiry Report (known as the
Robens Report) recognized that the introduction of health and safety
management systems was essential if the ideal of self-regulation of health and
safety by industry was to be realized. It further recognized that a more active
involvement of the workforce in such systems was essential if self-regulation
was to work.
The health and safety culture of an organization may be described as the
development stage of the organization in health and safety management at a
particular time. HSG65 (Safety and Health Management) gives the following
definition of a health and safety culture:
• The safety culture of an organization is the product of individual and group
values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies and patterns of behavior that
determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an
organization’s health and safety management.
• Organizations with a positive safety culture are characterized by
communications founded on mutual trust, by shared perceptions of the
importance of safety and by confidence in the efficacy of preventive
measures.
ILO perspective on health and safety culture
The ILO defines a health and safety culture as:
A culture in which the right to a safe and healthy working
environment is respected at all levels, where government, employers
and workers actively participate in securing a safe and healthy
working environment through a system of defined rights,
responsibilities and duties, and where the principle of prevention is
accorded the highest priority.
The relationship between health and safety culture and
health and safety performance
The following elements are the important components of a
positive health and safety culture:
• leadership and commitment to health and safety throughout and
at all levels of the organization;
• acceptance that high standards of health and safety are
achievable as part of a long-term strategy formulated by the
organization;
• detailed assessment of health and safety risks in the organization
and the development of appropriate control and monitoring
systems;
• health and safety policy statement outlining short and long-term
health and safety objectives. Such a policy should also include
codes of practice and required health and safety standards;
• relevant employee training programs and communication and
consultation procedures;
• systems for monitoring equipment, processes and procedures
and the prompt rectification of any defects;
• the prompt investigation of all incidents and accidents and
reports made detailing any necessary remedial actions.
Factors affecting a health and safety culture
The most important factor affecting the health and safety culture
of an organization is the commitment to health and safety from the
top of an organization. This commitment may be shown in many
different ways. It needs to have a formal aspect in terms of an
organizational structure, job descriptions and a health and safety
policy, but it also needs to be apparent during crises or other
stressful times. The health and safety procedures may be
circumvented or simply forgotten when production or other
performance targets are threatened.
• Structural reorganization or changes in market conditions will
produce feelings of uncertainty among the workforce which, in
turn, will affect the health and safety culture.
• Poor levels of supervision, health and safety information and
training are very significant factors in reducing health and safety
awareness and, therefore, the culture.
Finally, the degree of consultation and involvement with the
workforce in health and safety matters is crucial for a positive health
and safety culture.

Most of these factors may be summed up as human factors.

Human factors and their influence on safety performance
Based on a study, it is clear that if near misses are continually
ignored, an accident will result. The UK HSE Accident Prevention
Unit has suggested that 90% of all accidents are due to human
error and 70% of all accidents could have been avoided by earlier
(proactive) action by management. It is clear from many research
projects that the major factors in most accidents are human
factors.
 The HSE has defined human factors as, ‘environmental,
organizational and job factors, and human and individual
characteristics which influence behavior at work in a way which can
affect health and safety’.

In simple terms in addition to the environment, the health and

safety of people at work are influenced by:
• the organization;
• the job;
• personal factors.
The Organization
The organization is the company or corporate body and has the
major influence on health and safety. It must have its own positive
health and safety culture and produce an environment in which it:
• manages health and safety throughout the organization, including
the setting and publication of a health and safety policy and the
establishment of a health and safety organizational structure;
• measures the health and safety performance of the organization at
all levels and in all departments. The performance of individuals
should also be measured. There should be clear health and safety
targets and standards and an effective reporting procedure for
accidents and other incidents so that remedial actions may be
taken;
• motivates managers within the organization to improve health and
safety performance in the workplace in a proactive rather than
reactive manner
The Job
Jobs may be highly dangerous or present only negligible risk of
injury. Health and safety is an important element during the design
stage of the job and any equipment, machinery or procedures
associated with the job. Method study helps to design the job in the
most cost-effective way and ergonomics helps to design the job with
health and safety in mind. Ergonomics is the science of matching
equipment, machines and processes to people rather than the other
way round.
Physically matching the job and any associated equipment to the
person will ensure that the possibility of human error is minimized.
It is also important to ensure that there is mental matching of the
person’s information and decision-making requirements. A person
must be capable, either through past experience or through specific
training, of performing the job with the minimum potential for
human error.
Personal Factors
Personal factors, which affect health and safety, may be defined
as any condition or characteristic of an individual which could cause
or influence him/her to act in an unsafe manner. They may be
physical, mental or psychological in nature. Personal factors,
therefore, include issues such as attitude, motivation, training and
human error and their interaction with the physical, mental and
perceptual capability of the individual.
These factors have a significant effect on health and safety. Some
of them, normally involving the personality of the individual, are
unchangeable but others, involving skills, attitude, perception and
motivation can be changed, modified or improved by suitable
training or other measures. In summary, the person needs to be
matched to the job.
 Studies have shown that the most common personal factors
which contribute to accidents are low skill and competence levels,
tiredness, boredom, low morale and individual medical problems.
The three most common personal factors are psychological factors:
• Attitude is the tendency to behave in a particular way in a certain
situation. Attitudes are influenced by the prevailing health and
safety culture within the organization, the commitment of the
management, the experience of the individual and the influence
of the peer group. Peer group pressure is a particularly important
factor among young people and health and safety training must
be designed with this in mind by using examples or case studies
that are relevant to them. Behavior may be changed by training,
the formulation and enforcement of safety rules and meaningful
consultation – attitude change often follows.
• Motivation is the driving force behind the way a person acts or
the way in which people are stimulated to act. Involvement in the
decision-making process in a meaningful way will improve
motivation as will the use of incentive schemes. However, there
are other important influences on motivation such as recognition
and promotion opportunities, job security and job satisfaction.
Self-interest, in all its forms, is a significant motivator and
personal factor.
• Perception is the way in which people interpret the environment
or the way in which a person believes or understands a situation.
In health and safety, the perception of hazards is an important
concern. Many accidents occur because people do not perceive
that there is a risk. There are many common examples of this,
including the use of personal protective equipment (such as hard
hats) and guards on drilling machines and the washing of hands
before meals. Routine or repetitive tasks will reduce attention
levels, leading to the possibility of accidents.
Human Errors and Violations
Human failures in health and safety are classified either as errors
or violations. An error is an unintentional deviation from an
accepted standard, whereas a violation is a deliberate deviation
from the standard.
Human errors fall into three groups – slips, lapses and mistakes,
which can be further sub-divided into rule-based and knowledge-
based mistakes
Slips and Lapses
• Slips and lapses are very similar in that they are caused by a
momentary memory loss often due to lack of attention or loss of
concentration. They are not related to levels of training,
experience or motivation and they can usually be reduced by re-
designing the job or equipment or minimizing distractions.
• Slips are failures to carry out the correct actions of a task.
Examples include the use of the incorrect switch, reading the
wrong dial or selecting the incorrect component for an assembly.
A slip also describes an action taken too early or too late within a
given working procedure.
• Lapses are failures to carry out particular actions which may form
part of a working procedure. A forklift truck driver leaving the
keys in the ignition lock of his truck is an example of a lapse, as is
the failure to replace the petrol cap on a car after filling it with
petrol. Lapses may be reduced by re-designing equipment so that,
for example, an audible horn indicates the omission of a task.
They may also be reduced significantly by the use of detailed
checklists.
Mistakes
Mistakes occur when an incorrect action takes place but the
person involved believes the action to be correct. A mistake involves
an incorrect judgment. There are two types of mistake – rule-based
and knowledge-based.
• Rule-based mistakes occur when a rule or procedure is
remembered or applied incorrectly. These mistakes usually
happen when, due to an error, the rule that is normally used no
longer applies. For example, a particular job requires the counting
of items into groups of ten followed by the adding together of the
groups so that the total number of items may be calculated. If
one of the groups is miscounted, the final total will be incorrect
even though the rule has been followed.
• Knowledge-based mistakes occur when well-tried methods or
calculation rules are used inappropriately. For example, the depth
of the foundations required for a particular building was
calculated using a formula. The formula, which assumed a clay
soil, was used to calculate the foundation depth in a sandy soil.
The resultant building was unsafe.

Mistakes can be reduced by the use of instruction, training and

relevant information.
There are three categories of violation: routine, situational and exceptional.
1. Routine violation occurs when the breaking of a safety rule or procedure
is the normal way of working. It becomes routine not to use the
recommended procedures for tasks. An example of this is the regular
high speed use of forklift trucks in a warehouse so that orders can be
fulfilled on time.
There are many reasons given for routine violations; for example:
• taking short-cuts to save time and energy;
• a belief that the rules are unworkable or too restrictive;
• lack of knowledge of the procedures;
• perception that the rules are no longer applied;
• poor supervision and a lack of enforcement of the rules;
• new workers thinking that routine violations are the norm and not
realizing that this was not the safe way of working

Routine violations can be reduced by regular monitoring, ensuring that

the rules are actually necessary, or re-designing the job.
2. Situational violations occur when particular job pressures at
particular times make rule compliance difficult. They may
happen when the correct equipment is not available or weather
conditions are adverse. A common example is the use of a ladder
rather than a scaffold for working at height to replace window
frames in a building. Situational violations may be reduced by
improving job design, the working environment and supervision.

3. Exceptional violations rarely happen and usually occur when a

safety rule is broken to perform a new task. Good examples of
this are the violations which can occur during the operations of
emergency procedures such as for fires or explosions. These
violations should be addressed in risk assessments and during
training sessions for emergencies (e.g. fire training).
The promotion of health and safety standards
• For a positive health and safety culture to be developed,
everyone within the organization needs to understand the
standards of health and safety expected by the organization and
the role of the individual in achieving and maintaining those
standards. Such standards are required to control and minimize
health and safety risks.
• Standards should clearly identify the actions required of people to
promote health and safety. They should also specify the
competencies needed by employees and should form the basis
for measuring health and safety performance.
Having established relevant health and safety standards, it is important
that they are actively promoted within the organization by all levels of
management. The most effective method of promotion is by leadership
and example. There are many ways to do this such as:
• the involvement of managers in workplace inspections and accident
investigations;
• the use of PPE (e.g. goggles and hard hats) by all managers and their
visitors in designated areas;
• ensuring that employees attend specialist refresher training courses
when required (e.g. first-aid and forklift truck driving);
• full co-operation with fire drills and other emergency training exercises;
• comprehensive accident reporting and prompt follow-up on
recommended remedial actions.
The benefit of good standards of health and safety will be shown
directly in less lost production, accidents and compensation claims, and
lower insurance premiums. It may also be shown in higher product quality
and better resource allocation.
Health and Safety Competence
The ILO has defined competence more broadly in the ILO-OSH 2001
management system in terms of an authority, an institution and a person
as follows:
• Competent institution: A government department or other body with
the responsibility to establish a national policy and develop a national
framework for health and safety management systems in organizations
and to provide relevant guidance.
• Competent authority: A minister, government department, or other
public authority having the power to issue regulations, orders or other
instructions having the force of law.
• Competent person: A person possessing adequate qualifications, such as
suitable training and sufficient knowledge, experience and skill for the
safe performance of the specific work. The competent authorities may
define appropriate criteria for the designation of such persons and may
determine the duties to be assigned to them.
 It is recommended that competent employees are used for
advice on health and safety matters rather than external specialists
(consultants). However, if employees, competent in health and
safety, are not available in the organization, then an external service
may be enlisted to help. The key is that management and employees
need access to health and safety expertise.
Competent workers must have sufficient training, experience,
knowledge and other qualities to enable them to properly undertake
the duties assigned to them.
Effective Communication
Many problems in health and safety arise due to poor
communication. It is not just a problem between management and
workforce; it is often a problem the other way or indeed at the same
level within an organization. It can arise from ambiguities or, even,
accidental distortion of a message.
There are three basic methods of communication in health and
safety: verbal, written and graphic.
• Verbal communication is the most common. It is communication
by speech or word of mouth. Verbal communication should only
be used for relatively simple pieces of information or instruction.
It is most commonly used in the workplace, during training
sessions or at meetings.
• Written communication takes many forms from a simple memo to
a detailed report. A memo should contain one simple message
and be written in straightforward and clear language. The title
should accurately describe the contents of the memo. In recent
years, e-mails have largely replaced memos, as it has become a
much quicker method to ensure that the message gets to all. The
advantage of memos and e-mails is that there is a record of the
message after it has been delivered.
• Graphic communication is communication by the use of drawings,
photographs or DVDs. It is used to impart either health and safety
information (e.g. fire exits) or health and safety propaganda. The
most common forms of health and safety propaganda are the
poster and the DVD. Both can be used very effectively as training
aids, as they can retain interest and impart a simple message.
Health and Safety Training
The provision of information and training for employees will develop
their awareness and understanding of the specific hazards and risks
associated with their jobs and working environment. It will inform them of
the control measures that are in place and any related safe procedures that
must be followed. Apart from satisfying legal obligations, several benefits
will accrue to the employer by the provision of sound information and
training to employees. These benefits include:
• a reduction in accident severity and frequency;
• a reduction in injury and ill-health related absence;
• a reduction in compensation claims and, possibly, insurance premiums;
• an improvement in the health and safety culture of the organization;
• improved staff morale and retention.

Health and safety training is a very important part of the health and
safety culture and it is often a legal requirement for an employer to provide
such training.
There are several different types of training; these include
induction, job specific, supervisory and management, and
specialist.
Induction training - Induction training should always be
provided to new employees, trainees and contractors. While
such training covers items such as pay, conditions and quality,
it must also include health and safety. It is useful if the
employee signs a record to the effect that training has been
received. This record may be required as evidence should
there be a subsequent legal claim against the organization.
Job-specific training - Job-specific training ensures that employees
undertake their job in a safe manner. Such training, therefore, is a form of
skill training and is often best done ‘on the job’ – sometimes known as
‘toolbox training’. Details of the safe system of work or, in more hazardous
jobs, a permit-to work system, should be covered. In addition to normal
safety procedures, emergency procedures and the correct use of PPE also
need to be included. The results of risk assessments are very useful in the
development of this type of training. It is important that any common
causes of human errors (e.g. discovered as a result of an accident
investigation), any standard safety checks or maintenance requirements, are
addressed.

Supervisory and management training - Supervisory and management

health and safety training follows similar topics to those contained in an
induction training course but will be covered in more depth. There will also
be a more detailed treatment of health and safety law. There has been
considerable research over the years into the failures of managers that have
resulted in accidents and other dangerous incidents.
Specialist training - Specialist health and safety training is
normally needed for activities that are not related to a
specific job but more to an activity. Examples include first-aid,
fire prevention, forklift truck driving, overhead crane
operation, scaffold inspection and statutory health and safety
inspections. These training courses are often provided by
specialist organizations and successful participants are
awarded certificates. Details of two of these courses will be
given here by way of illustration. Details of other types of
specialist training appear elsewhere in the text.
 …a more active involvement
of the workforce in such systems
was essential if self-regulation
was to work.