Safety Culture Index

Instructions

The Safety Culture Index[1] contains two documents: Microsoft Word safety culture survey and a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

The survey will give three results and another if you use the return rate of the survey as a metric. The first result is the culture “score” of the group as a whole against the sliding scale from Pathological to Generative, secondly the culture by position and thirdly, safety culture applicable to:

(1) Management commitment

(2) Risk management

(3) Communications

(4) SMS/Auditing

(5) Training

(6) Employees

The form has a place on the bottom to indicate the position of the person completing the survey. You can change the position title to reflect the type of operation surveyed – just remember to change the spreadsheet accordingly.

You will also need to add your organizations name to replace the generic “XXXXXXX”. Please do not change the questions as each question is shaped to form a composite picture to safety culture overall and the six groups above.

You will also see that the survey spreadsheet has been designed for three work sites but you can add as many worksheets as you want according to your organization.

How to evaluate the safety culture score:

The higher the score, the better your safety culture rating. Use the following as a guide only, but you should be aiming for an average company safety culture of 93 or above. Anything less would suggest that improvements are needed. Research shows that an organization’s safety culture can usually be placed in one of three categories according to its ASCI score:

·  Pathological 25-58

·  Bureaucratic 59-92

·  Generative 93-125

However, regardless of the overall score, particular attention should be paid to individual items in the questionnaire where employees consistently select ‘1’.

Your safety culture profile: ____Pathological ____ Bureaucratic ____Generative

Characteristics of these organizational categories:

Pathological organizations treat safety information in the following way: / Bureaucratic organizations treat safety information in the following way: / Generative organizations treat safety information in the following way:
Information is hidden / Information may be ignored / Information is actively sought
Messengers are shot / Messengers are tolerated / Responsibility is shared
Responsibility is avoided / Responsibility is compartmentalized / Responsibility is shared
Dissemination is discouraged / Dissemination is allowed but discouraged / Dissemination is rewarded
Failure is covered up / Failure leads to local repairs / Failure leads to inquiries and reforms
New ideas are crushed / New ideas present problems / New ideas are welcomed

xxxxxxx Safety Culture Survey

All employees contribute to safety and are responsible for ensuring a positive safety culture. The purpose of this questionnaire is to get an understanding of perceptions about safety within (our organization).

Answer each question honestly.
Each questionnaire is confidential.
How well do you think each of the following statements apply to your project?

Statement

/

Company Rating

Strongly Strongly
Disagree Agree
u v w x y
1 / Employees are given enough training to do their work tasks safely /
2 / Managers get personally involved in safety activities /
3 / In my work area, there are procedures to follow in the event of an emergency /
4 / Managers often discuss safety issues with employees /
5 / Employees do all they can to prevent accidents. /
6 / Everyone is given sufficient opportunity to make suggestions regarding safety issues /
7 / Employees often encourage each other to work safely /
8 / Managers are aware of the main safety problems in the workplace. /
9 / All new employees are provided with sufficient safety training before commencing their work /
10 / Managers often praise employees they see working safely /
11 / Everyone is kept informed of any changes which may affect safety /
12 / Employees follow safety rules almost all of the time /
13 / Safety within this company is better than other airline projects /
14 / Managers do all they can to prevent accidents here /
15 / Accident investigations attempt to find the real causes of accidents, rather than just blame the people involved /
16 / Managers recognize when employees are working unsafely /
17 / Any faults or hazards that are reported are rectified promptly /
18 / In my work area, there are mechanisms in place for me to report safety deficiencies. /
19 / Managers top unsafe operations or activities /
20 / After an accident has occurred, appropriate actions are usually taken to reduce the chances that a similar event will occur in the future /
21 / Everyone is given sufficient feedback regarding this company's safety performance /
22 / Managers regard safety to be a very important part of all work activities /
23 / Safety audits are carried out frequently /
24 / Safety within this company is generally well controlled /
25 / Employees usually report any dangerous work practices they notice /

CALCULATING YOUR SAFETY CULTURE SCORE

·  Count the number of ticks in each column / o o o o o
·  Multiply the number of ticks in each column by the column score - i.e. one point for each tick in the first column, 2 for each tick in the second column etc... / x1 x2 x3 x4 x5
·  Add the column totals together to get your total score / o + o + o + o + o

YOUR SAFETY CULTURE SCORE

/ =
Position: o Manager/Team Lead/ o Supervisor o Tradesperson

1

[1] Mr. Glenn Jones, Safety Systems Inspector at Civil Aviation Safety Authority provided this 2007, Boeing Australia Limited “Safety Culture Survey” document & accompanying “Overall Safety Culture Assessment” Excel spreadsheet. ATC Vantage Inc., www.atcvantage.com edited & reformatted to useable content.