"the way we do things around here’’

Perhaps you have heard the expression "the way we do things around here’’, or someone declares ‘’it’s the (company name) way’’. What is the real meaning behind these statements? What about these statements compel us to fit in and follow the way things are done?

Is this the power of culture at work?

What exactly is meant by the term "culture," and why should those of us in managerial and supervisory roles take an interest in it? The answer to why it matters is straightforward: culture substantially influences individual behavior by establishing collective standards, or simply, ‘’culture eats strategy and execution planning for breakfast’’. It’s not enough for us to accept statements like “That’s the way we do things around here” as the principle of culture. We need to dig a little deeper into the definition of culture.

Culture can be defined as a set of unspoken norms (silent rules) that an organization has developed over time as it has dealt with external adaptation and internal integration issues. These norms have proven effective enough to teach new personnel the correct way to perceive, think, and feel about these issues. Every company, project, or business has its personality and atmosphere, which is hard to quantify, let alone measure.

So, what about safety culture? Is it different from the overall culture of a business? Let’s look at the most widely excepted understanding of safety culture.

‘’An organization's safety culture is the natural outcome of individual and group values, views, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine an organization's degree of commitment to its health and safety programs, as well as how those programs are applied and their level of capability.’’

Again safety culture appears to be something that is challenging to measure. It strikes me as an intellectual concept that lends itself to subjective opinion and impression.

The term safety culture is a dynamic concept, but its definition lacks agreement; however, some models establish linkages between culture, behavior, safety management, and safety performance. However, these models are not commonly used in everyday safety conversations or work. Nevertheless, safety culture has become a popular concept, usually as a response to accident causation and as the universal solution for performance enhancement. Have you ever been involved in an incident, and during the investigation and the ensuing days, you start to hear discussions around culture, like ‘’we need to improve the safety culture’’? I know I have. We cannot expect managers and supervisors to know what to do or act on these types of comments.

Let's look at ‘’Safety Culture” as a measurable concept that can be attributed as a causation or contributory factor in workplace incidents. An organization must explore good metrics for safety culture to enable quantitative assessment for comparing and tracking performance.

The reciprocal safety culture model gives us three elements with which we can start. ?

These three elements directly influence each other and, in turn, influence the culture. If we break this down further, we will see the reciprocal relationship between each component and how this model can start to help us benchmark and measure culture in a meaningful way.

• People, including values, perceptions, opinions, views, and individual and collective attitudes.
• Behavior; task performance, safety-related behaviors, safety-related actions
• Organisation; policies, procedures, guidelines, management system, leadership

This model emphasizes that safety culture is comparable to organizational culture and is a fundamental component. So how can we use this to develop our culture and influence positive changes?

First, we need to acknowledge that the first element ‘’People’’ is made up of subjective internal psychological factors that are not only hard to see but also hard to quantify and measure. Internal psychological factors (i.e., attitudes and perceptions) can only be assessed via safety climate questionnaires or objective interactions.

The second element, ‘’Behavior’’, is a little easier. Behavioral safety initiatives such as Behavioral Notice Card (BNC) Programs can be used to measure current trends.

The third element, ‘’Organisation’’, can be assessed via safety management system audits/inspections.

Because each of these safety culture components, People, Behavior, and Organisation, can be measured directly in isolation or in combination, we can see it is possible to quantify safety culture in a meaningful way.

If we take this concept just one step further, we might be able to create a framework that we can use to benchmark ourselves and our trade partners, contractors, and sub-contractors. This will allow us to think about culture and communicate in the same language with all stakeholders.

Summary

The culture in our organisations is critical in determining our success; it can be defined and considered as being comprised of three key elements. These three elements are influenced by each other, and it is possible to quantify them and subsequently measure and benchmark our culture. If we can measure and benchmark our culture, we can develop and improve it.

Keys to success

1.??????Ensure your employees understand the culture and perceive it as something they can affect.

2.??????Define the lead indicators for each element and ensure they are congruent to the business.

3.??????Review the lead indicators that influence your safety culture. Which of these do you feel needs the most attention in your organization?

4.??????Decide on a framework that suits your business to continually improve on your culture.

Potential lead indicators

• Leadership commitment
• Risk perception and planning
• Safety Systems of Work
• Work pressures and scheduling
• Training and competence
• Communication/Information
• Equipment/tools
• Employee engagement and involvement
• Responsibility
• Environment/Facilities
• Work-groups/committees

Remember, as leaders, we are influencing every second of every minute of the day, whether we can be seen or not. It is the burden we carry as leaders.

“Tomorrow is our reward for working safely today.”