A safety culture maturity model for petrochemical companies in Brazil

A framework to measure safety culture maturity in the Brazilian oil and gas companies was formulated based on the model of Hudson (2001). Following a review of the safety culture literature, a questionnaire was designed to measure five aspects of organisational safety indicative of five levels of cultural maturity. The questionnaire was completed by the safety managers of 23 petrochemical companies based in Camacari, Bahia, Brazil and they were interviewed one month later. The reliability of the questionnaire was tested by asking the same questions in an interview and comparing the results (alternate forms reliability). The correlation coefficients between the questionnaire and interview scores on each dimension ranged from r = 0.7 to 0.9, demonstrating good reliability of the measures used. The research findings demonstrated that the 23 companies studied showed characteristics of different levels of safety culture maturity. Most scores were at the level of proactive. The model of Hudson (2001) and the revised framework and questionnaire were found to be practical to use, making it possible to identify levels of safety culture maturity in the context of the Brazilian petrochemical industry.     

The nature of safety culture: a review of theory and research

This paper reviews the literature on safety culture and safety climate. The main emphasis is on applied research customary in the social psychological or organisational psychological traditions. Although safety culture and climate are generally acknowledged to be important concepts, not much consensus has been reached on the cause, the content and the consequences of safety culture and climate in the past 20 years. Moreover, there is an overall lack of models specifying either the relationship of both concepts with safety and risk management or with safety performance. In this paper, safety culture and climate will be differentiated according to a general framework based on work by Schein (1992 Schein) on organisational culture. This framework distinguishes three levels at which organisational culture can be studied — basis assumptions, espoused values and artefacts. At the level of espoused values we find attitudes, which are equated with safety climate. The basic assumptions, however, form the core of the culture. It is argued that these basic assumptions do not have to be specifically about safety, although it is considered a good sign if they are. It is concluded that safety climate might be considered an alternative safety performance indicator and that research should focus on its scientific validity. More important, however, is the assessment of an organisation's basic assumptions, since these are assumed to be explanatory to its attitudes.     

Behavioural approaches to safety management within UK reactor plants

The current study is concerned with the evaluation of a process of behavioural safety within the nuclear industry. The focus of the investigation is on personal inputs to, and experiences of a behavioural safety process (BSP), over a 4-year period, rather than organisational safety performance per se. Its purpose is to describe how employees within participating UK reactor plants regard behavioural approaches to safety management. In particular, the study addresses the perceived strengths and weaknesses of behavioural approaches to safety management and identifies both current and future potential for individual and organisational learning.Personnel from three representative UK reactor sites and other key stakeholders participated in the investigation. Several methods were utilised to gather data in relation to the study objectives, including semi-structured interviews, plant observations and questionnaires. Findings indicate a positive commitment to behavioural safety at all levels within the study organisation. Interviewees articulated a number of specific examples of individual learning and possibilities for learning enhancement. Results from the questionnaire study indicate that the BSP is embedded at all levels and within all representative sites participating in the current study. However, the issue of sustainability has been identified as a potential problem at one of the participating sites. The investigation findings are discussed in relation to existing theoretical frameworks of behavioural change.     

Perspectives on safety culture

Overviewing selected elements from the literature, this paper locates the notion of safety culture within its parent concept of organisational culture. A distinction is drawn between functionalist and interpretive perspectives on organisational culture. The terms ‘culture’ and ‘climate’ are clarified as they are typically applied to organisations and to safety. A contrast is drawn between strategic top down and data-driven bottom up approaches to human factors as an illustrative aspect of safety. A safety case study is used to illustrate two measurement approaches. Key issues for future study include valid measurement of safety culture and developing methods to adequately represent mechanisms through which safety culture might influence, and be influenced by, other safety factors.     

Safety culture in Swedish air traffic control

European air traffic control is undergoing changes in organization and technology in order to increase efficiency in air traffic. Change processes can have a negative impact on existing safety cultures, the foundations of safety work, and on safety. This paper reports on an assessment of safety culture at one administrative and two operative units in a Swedish air traffic control setting, using questionnaire packages and interviews, and focuses on 391 questionnaire respondents. The objectives of the study were to obtain baseline data of safety culture aspects and relationships between safety culture and organizational climate before major organizational and technical changes were implemented, and to yield reference data on safety culture aspects in this transport branch. The safety culture aspects were generally perceived and judged to be good by the respondents. Relationships were identified between the organizational climate and the safety culture at the two operative units, where a higher level of Support for ideas and a lower level of Conflicts were positively related to many of the investigated safety culture aspects. The general safety culture in the air traffic control setting was found to be on a somewhat higher average score level than that found in the authors’ previous studies of passenger shipping and airport ground handling.     

Exploring the social and organisational aspects of human factors integration: A framework and case study

In this paper we first outline a framework which aims to capture some of the social and organisational aspects of human factors integration (HFI) which have been outlined by previous research. The framework was partly used to design a set of interview questions that were used with a case study of a human factors team working with the UK defence industry. The findings from the case study revealed a number of barriers which accord with previous research in the domain of HFI (e.g., attitudes and perceptions towards HF), as well as providing insights into the improvement strategies used by the HF team in order to improve HFI. These included attempts to build relationships and establish a working rapport with other groups in the company, as well as other activities aimed at addressing the organisational culture within the company as a whole (e.g., attempts to raise the profile of HF within the company). We use the framework for social and organisational aspects of HFI to discuss our findings alongside other research on group behaviour and boundary management within large organisations. The conclusions of the paper point to the utility of the framework as a means of planning HFI improvement strategies which can help to overcome some of the social and organisational barriers to HFI.     

Mapping safety culture attributes with integrity management program to achieve assessment goals: A framework for oil and gas pipelines industry

Introduction: The safety of oil and gas pipelines is an increasing concern for the public, government regulators, and the industry. A safety management system cannot be efficient without having an effective integrity management program (IMP) and a strong safety culture. IMP is a formal document (policies, planning, scheduling, and technical processes) while safety culture is a measure of views, beliefs, and traditions about safety. For regulatory authorities and O&G companies, assessing the effectiveness of both the IMP and safety culture through regulatory audits is a daunting task with indistinct findings. Method: An integrated framework based on regulatory audits is developed to assess the maturity of safety culture based on IMP efficacy through risk-based approach by using failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA). The framework focuses on three distinct aspects, the probability of failure occurrence in case of the non-compliance of regulatory and program requirements, severity of non-compliance, and effectiveness of the corrective actions. Results: Program requirements and performance indicators are translated into assessment questions which are grouped into 18 IMP components. Subsequently, these components are linked with four safety culture attributes. Sensitivity analysis revealed that four IMP components, i.e., organizational roles and responsibilities, policy and commitment, risk assessment, and training and competency, significantly affect the safety culture maturity level. Conclusions: Individual assessment of IMP and safety culture in O&G sector consumes extensive time and efforts in the auditing process. The framework facilitates the process by pursuing common criteria between IMP and safety culture. The O&G companies and regulator can prioritize the improvement plans and guidelines using the framework's findings. Practicalapplications:The integrated framework developed in this research will improve the existing assessment mechanism in O&G companies. The framework has been effectively implemented on a case of 17 upstream O&G pipeline-operating companies in the province of British Columbia, Canada.     

Assessing safety culture in nuclear power stations

Definitions of safety culture abound, but they variously refer to the safety-related values, attitudes, beliefs, risk perceptions and behaviours of all employees. This assembly may seem too inclusive to be meaningful, but each represents a different level of processing and the choice for measurement (or intervention) is more pragmatic than theoretical. The present study addresses mainly attitudes, but also reported behaviours. This is done using a 120-item questionnaire covering eight domains of safety in three nuclear power stations. Principal components analysis yields 28 factors — all but four of which are correlated with one or more of nine criteria of accident history. Differences by gender, age, shifts/days and work areas are revealed, but these are confounded by type of job and ANOVAS are applied to clarify the main sources of variation. The effects on safety culture of a number of organisational components are also explored. For example, the role of safety in team briefings, management style, work pressure versus safety, etc. It is concluded that personnel safety surveys can usefully be applied to deliver a multi-perspective, comprehensive and economical assessment of the current state of a safety culture and also to explore the dynamic inter-relationships of its ‘working parts’.     

The use of questionnaires in safety culture research – an evaluation

Questionnaires have not been particularly successful in exposing the core of an organisational safety culture. This is clear both from the factors found and the relations between these and safety indicators. The factors primarily seem to denote an overall evaluation of management, which does not say much about cultural basic assumptions. In addition, methodology requires that levels of theory and measurement are properly recognised and distinguished. That is, measurements made at one level cannot be employed at other levels just like that unless certain conditions are met.Safety management has been described through nine separate processes that together encompass the safety management system (SMS) of an organisation. Policies developed at the organisational level shape the organisational context and working conditions of the group and individual levels and therefore also attitudes within the organisation. The questionnaires seem to expose only those attitudes that are shared throughout the whole of the organisation. The workforce could very well recognise the safety policies of higher management as concern for their well-being and the overall value attached to safety. Pictured this way, safety climate (attitudes) and safety culture are not separate entities but rather different approaches towards the same goal of determining the importance of safety within an organisation.     

Predicting safety culture: the roles of employer, operations manager and safety professional

Introduction: This study explores predictive factors in safety culture. Method: In 2008, a sample 939 employees was drawn from 22 departments of a telecoms firm in five regions in central Taiwan. The sample completed a questionnaire containing four scales: the employer safety leadership scale, the operations manager safety leadership scale, the safety professional safety leadership scale, and the safety culture scale. The sample was then randomly split into two subsamples. One subsample was used for measures development, one for the empirical study. Results: A stepwise regression analysis found four factors with a significant impact on safety culture (R² = 0.337): safety informing by operations managers; safety caring by employers; and safety coordination and safety regulation by safety professionals. Safety informing by operations managers (ß = 0.213) was by far the most significant predictive factor. Impact on industry: The findings of this study provide a framework for promoting a positive safety culture at the group level.     

Management practices as antecedents of safety culture within the trucking industry: similarities and differences by hierarchical level

PROBLEM: A homogeneous perception of safety is important for the achievement of a strong safety culture; however, employees may differ in their safety perceptions, depending on their position and/or hierarchical level within the organization. Moreover, there is limited information on the antecedents of safety culture. This study examines how safety training, driver scheduling autonomy, opportunity for safety input, and management commitment to safety influence individuals' perceptions of safety culture. METHOD: Data for this study were drawn from 116 trucking firms, stratified by three safety performance levels. The data were collected from drivers (lowest hierarchical level), dispatchers (medium hierarchical level), and safety directors (highest hierarchical level), regarding their perceptions of their respective corporate safety cultures. Perceptions of safety culture were analyzed through a linear regression using dummy variables to differentiate among the three hierarchical groups. The resulting model allowed for examination of the specific antecedents of safety culture for the three employee groups and the extent to which the hierarchical groups were in agreement with each other. RESULTS: Driver fatigue training, driver opportunity for safety input, and top management commitment to safety were perceived to be integral determinants of safety culture in all three groups. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Trucking firms seeking to strengthen employees' perceptions of safety culture might begin by improving these safety management practices while appreciating that they may have a different impact depending on the employee's hierarchical position (e.g., drivers' perceptions of safety culture are more influenced by top management commitment and driver fatigue training). A fourth safety practice examined, driver scheduling autonomy, was not found to be instrumental in shaping safety culture for any of the three hierarchical levels. Consistent with previous research, implementation of stronger safety cultures should result in fewer accidents.     

安全文化成熟度模型在施工企业中的应用

为降低建筑工程施工中的伤亡事故频数,提高施工人员的安全素质,促进建筑施工企业安全体系更加完善,结合项目管理中的K-PMMM评估模型和软件行业中的CMM评估模型的特点,将安全文化划分为5个发展阶段,构建了安全文化的成熟度模型,把安全文化评价指标体系划分为人和物2个层面,每个层面细化为3个评价指标,同时对各个因素层进行模糊评价分析,量化了企业的安全文化水平,为客观评价企业的安全文化现状提供了理论依据。最后,通过实例分析,验证了该模型的合理性和科学性。     

Safety-culture in a Norwegian shipping company

Problem: Although there has been considerable interest in safety culture and safety climate in many industries, little attention has been given to safety culture in one of the world's riskiest industries, shipping. Method: Using both self developed items and items from published research on safety culture, safety climate, and quality and management style, a 40-item safety culture questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was distributed in a self-administered form to sailors onboard 20 vessels and to officers attending a seminar in Manila. A total of 349 questionnaires were collected (total response rate, 60%). Results, discussion and impact on industry: Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed 11 factors when the Kaiser eigenvalue rule was used and four factors when the scree test criterion was used. The factor structure in the material confirmed structures found in other industries. The relative importance of the factors from the factor analysis on “level of safety” measures was tested by canonical correlation analysis and regression analysis. The results confirmed previous research and showed that the most important factors were influential across industries. To determine weather differences existed between nationalities, occupations, and vessels the factors from the PCA was subjected to Multiple Discriminant Analysis. Significant differences between occupations, nations, and vessels were found on one or more of the factors from the PCA.     

Between a rock and a hard place: Accident and near-miss reporting on offshore service vessels

Reporting accidents and near misses is an important aspect of safety management. This study explores reporting in contract work, exemplified by offshore service vessels, and the associations with external and internal organisational factors. The empirical foundation for the study is a questionnaire survey (N = 1108). Reporting was negatively related to high efficiency demands from external actors and low quality of feedback to the reporting community. These factors were more strongly related to reporting than internal factors within the safety climate construct. Short-term contract engagement was also negatively associated with reporting. The results could reflect the organisational complexity that characterises much contract work. The study implies that attempts to increase the level of reporting in contract work should not be limited to focusing on internal organisational factors. Framework conditions and signals from external actors regarding the actual priority accorded to safety should also be considered.     

The nature of safety culture: A survey of the state-of-the-art

This paper reviews the literature on safety culture, placing particular focus on research undertaken from 1998 onwards. The term culture is clarified as it is typically applied to organizations, to safety, and particularly to construction safety. Some clarification in terms of positive safety culture, safety culture models, levels of aggregation and safety performance is provided by presenting appropriate empirical evidence and its theoretical developments. In general, safety culture is thought to influence employees’ attitudes and behavior in relation to an organization’s ongoing health and safety performance. Implications for future research in the area are addressed, as in recent years safety culture has become the focus of much attention in all industries, including the construction industry.     

Arabian,Asian, western: a cross-cultural comparison of aircraft accidents from human factor perspectives

Introduction. Rates of aviation accident differ in different regions; and national culture has been implicated as a factor. This invites a discussion about the role of national culture in aviation accidents. This study makes a cross-cultural comparison between Oman, Taiwan and the USA. Method. A cross-cultural comparison was acquired using data from three studies, including this study, by applying the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) framework. The Taiwan study presented 523 mishaps with 1762 occurrences of human error obtained from the Republic of China Air Force. The study from the USA carried out for commercial aviation had 119 accidents with 245 instances of human error. This study carried out in Oman had a total of 40 aircraft accidents with 129 incidences. Results. Variations were found between Oman, Taiwan and the USA at the levels of organisational influence and unsafe supervision. Seven HFACS categories showed significant differences between the three countries (p?<?0.05). Conclusion. Although not given much consideration, national culture can have an impact on aviation safety. This study revealed that national culture plays a role in aircraft accidents related to human factors that cannot be disregarded.