How to Promote a Just Safety Culture
A just safety culture is crucial to a functioning Safety Management System. But how can you ensure and promote a just culture throughout your organisation? First step 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’.
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.
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:
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?