You Already Have One

Whether you know it or not, you already have a Safety Culture. It is either strong or it is weak, helpful or harmful, but it is there underlying everything your organization does and stands for.

You may hear the term “Safety Culture” in different industries and in different companies. You may even be searching for ways to introduce Safety Culture into your organization. But hold on…, you already have a Safety Culture. Every organization does. Just like your business culture, it’s present in everything you do, and just like any other culture, Safety Culture exists whether you choose to guide it or not. Ignoring the state of your Safety Culture will result in it controlling you and your organization’s performance, instead of the other way around.

When you allow a weak Safety Culture to guide your organization, you are exposing yourself to poor reputation, lost opportunities, high costs, poor productivity, loss of control, high staff turnover, negligence, potential fines and imprisonment, and worst of all, workplace incidents and injuries.

In contrast, a strong Safety Culture is your most reliable and resilient defense against incidents. It can help create new business opportunities, improve your competitive position in supply chains, reduce real business costs, increase productivity and most of all maintain a safe working environment.

We must continually elevate and enhance our Safety Culture to fend off the risk exposures that relentlessly chase after us, including the threat of complacency when things are going well. It is well documented by OSHA in the US that there is an average of $4 to $6 dollar return for every $1 dollar invested in a safety program.

Always remember – everyone wants to go to work, do their job well and get home safe. This is the belief that a strong Safety Culture is founded upon.