Safety Culture
Components of Safety Culture
A safety culture is not a single entity but a combination of several cultures:
- Informed Culture: Those who manage and operate the system have current knowledge about the human, technical, organizational, and environmental factors that determine the safety of the system.
- Reporting Culture: An organizational climate in which people are prepared to report their errors and near-misses.
- Just Culture: A culture of trust where people are encouraged (and even rewarded) for providing essential safety-related information, but in which they are also clear about where the line must be drawn between acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
- Honest Mistakes: Are not punished.
- Gross Negligence/Wilful Violation: ARE punished.
- Learning Culture: The willingness and competence to draw the right conclusions from safety information systems and the will to implement major reforms.
- Flexible Culture: The ability to reconfigure the organizational structure in the face of high tempo operations or certain kinds of danger (shifting from hierarchy to flat structure during emergencies).
Importance
A positive safety culture is the most effective way to identify Latent Conditions. Since pilots and mechanics are the eyes and ears of the operation, their willingness to report issues without fear of reprisal is critical for systemic improvement.