Creating a safety culture: What are the consequences.

Abstract

Getting our work done safely is an ethical and financial imperative. An effective safety culture depends on the consequences for behaviour at every level of the organisation. The safety culture of an organization is not static and unchangeable, but sometimes the language of ‘culture’ can make it seem so. In this piece, we transíate culture into consequences to enable the reader to measure and improve safe behaviours in their organization. In this ways positive change becomes more tangible and accessible to all employees. We provide suggestions for leaders who wish to become effective consequence providers and to tailor the consequences provided for safe behaviour throughout the organization. To conclude, we summarise a case study at a large construction project in the City of Edinburgh.