Promote a Positive Health and Safety Culture
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- Date Submitted: 06/25/2010 12:39 PM
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Candidate to produce a written report outlining how they will promote a health and safety culture within their organisation.
It is generally recognised that the management of health and safety should encompass all interactions between the workers within an organisation, the systems and procedures used and what equipment is being employed by all employees. Companies these days are aware that having a positive safety culture can only benefit their organisations.
There are several view points to what the definition of a positive safety culture is:
• The avoidance, prevention and reduction of risks at work needs to be an accepted part of the approach and attitudes at all levels of an organisation and apply to all its activities, i.e. the existence of an active health and safety culture affecting the organisation as a whole needs to be assured.
• The safety culture of an organisation is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies and patterns of behaviour that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organisation’s health and safety management.
• The characteristic shared attitudes, values, beliefs and practices concerning the importance of health and safety and the necessity for effective controls.
• Organisations with a positive safety culture are characterised by communications founded on mutual trust, by shared perceptions of the importance of safety and by confidence in the efficacy of preventative measures.
OVERVIEW
Over the previous 35 years since the introduction of the Health & safety at Work Act 1974 and before, the construction industry has endeavoured to reduce accident rates. First by improving hardware, effective guards and safer equipment; then improved employee performance, selection and training, incentives and reward schemes; and more recently by the way companies are organised and managed especially the introduction of safety management systems.
Each improvement...
It is generally recognised that the management of health and safety should encompass all interactions between the workers within an organisation, the systems and procedures used and what equipment is being employed by all employees. Companies these days are aware that having a positive safety culture can only benefit their organisations.
There are several view points to what the definition of a positive safety culture is:
• The avoidance, prevention and reduction of risks at work needs to be an accepted part of the approach and attitudes at all levels of an organisation and apply to all its activities, i.e. the existence of an active health and safety culture affecting the organisation as a whole needs to be assured.
• The safety culture of an organisation is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies and patterns of behaviour that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organisation’s health and safety management.
• The characteristic shared attitudes, values, beliefs and practices concerning the importance of health and safety and the necessity for effective controls.
• Organisations with a positive safety culture are characterised by communications founded on mutual trust, by shared perceptions of the importance of safety and by confidence in the efficacy of preventative measures.
OVERVIEW
Over the previous 35 years since the introduction of the Health & safety at Work Act 1974 and before, the construction industry has endeavoured to reduce accident rates. First by improving hardware, effective guards and safer equipment; then improved employee performance, selection and training, incentives and reward schemes; and more recently by the way companies are organised and managed especially the introduction of safety management systems.
Each improvement...