What is Health & Safety Culture?

The Health & Safety Laboratory defines Safety Culture as:
“a combination of the attitudes, values and perceptions that influence how something is actually done in the workplace, rather than how it should be done”.

Within any company, group, or organisation, at any time there may be a positive or negative health and safety culture.

A positive safety culture is indicated by:

• Good communication
• Employee involvement
• Compliance with regulations and guidelines
• Readiness to learn from mistakes
• Valuing quality over quantity
• Showing commitment to the progression of health and safety

Having a positive health and safety culture, can in turn, increase staff retention, reduce absenteeism, increase productivity, reduce costs arising from insurance claims, and ultimately, lead to a happier, healthier workforce.

This week we are going to be sharing 5 of our top questions you can ask yourself about your company’s health and safety culture.

Today’s questions is…

Are you communicating effectively?

Open and honest communication is vital in building and supporting a positive health and safety culture.

It is important that there is a clear pathway for two-way communication – where management feel that they can go to their employees to share their views and be listened to, but also where employees can go to management to share their ideas and feel heard.

By having this effective pathway, you will be able to gain a well-rounded, overall view of your company and its operations. Yes, you may be told that you are wrong, and that others have better suited solutions, but it is creating the environment where people can speak their mind, offer solutions, and communicate effectively as a team that helps to build a positive health and safety culture.

Being able to listen to, hear, and take on board other people’s experience, knowledge and expertise can lead to more effective risk assessments, safer processes, and smoother progression for the company as a whole.

Should you need any further information, or if you’d like to discuss your requirements further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.