Safety Culture Assessment

The purpose of the safety culture assessment is to gather perceptual data about safety and the policies, procedures, and initiatives that affect safety at your facility. Perceptual data is important because it gives a picture of the belief patterns of employees in an organization. These beliefs are formed from experiences, and they prompt people to act in certain ways. The manner in which people act defines the culture of the group to which they belong.

Thus, when looking at perceptual data it is important not to question the accuracy of the perceptions or beliefs, but rather to ask what experiences have caused the perception to become ingrained, and what needs to be changed to modify the perception in the desired direction.

The Safety Culture Assessment is conducted in two phases. In the first phase, a cultural survey is distributed to all employees. This can be done electronically or using a paper/pencil format. In phase two, data from the cultural survey are tabulated and questions formulated for focus group interviews. In addition, observed actions, relevant policies, procedures, recognition and reward initiatives, near-miss (if any), first-aid, and OSHA-recordable data are studies and behaviorally analyzed .

The safety culture report is divided into 8 main sections that reflect what Divaker Ltd. considers to be eight safety success factors. Each section presents data to support assertions about the culture and provides a commentary on how data relate to the relevant safety success factor. In addition, recommendations are presented for how to improve performance on each safety success factor. The report also contains information about current initiative and the performance and challenges of existing teams that support those initiatives.

Divaker Ltd., 3438 N. Greeenview Ave., Chicago, IL 60657. Tel: 773-525-9685; Fax: 773-525-9684.