How to Promote a Just Safety Culture
What is a just safety culture?
The term refers to an organisational approach to safety which promotes open reporting, transparent actions, and accountable consequences. A just culture emphasises the importance of learning from honest mistakes without fear of punitive actions or reprimands.
In other words, a just culture fosters a safety mindset where employees are not afraid of reporting near misses, incidents, risks, or hazards because they feel secure doing so.
First step towards a just culture is to perceive the culture from the eyes of your employees.
They are the ones that decide whether the culture is indeed accepted as being ‘just’.
Read more: Employee Inputs Are Crucial to a Functioning SMS
Employees Must Feel Included
Since culture permeates and affects the entire organisation, it is important that employees identify with and take ownership of the safety culture.
Luckily, there are several ways in which your organisation can promote a strong and just safety culture and mindset:
1. Create open channels of communication and feedback where employees can report safety concerns, write suggestions, and receive feedback.
2. Empower employees through safety training to make sure that they possess the knowledge and skills required to identify and report hazards, risks, near misses, and the like.
3. Establish safety committees, action groups, and representatives across the organisation and departments to anchor the culture and ensure effective communication.
4. Make sure to provide regular reviews and updates on the safety efforts and reporting– and make sure to involve the employees in the process.
So how can you ensure a just culture? The answer is somewhat simple.
If you treat your employees fairly when they make mistakes and focus on learning rather than blame, you contribute to creating a just culture which supports effective safety reporting and encourages employee feedback.
Read more: Is Your SMS Reactive, Proactive, or Predictive?
