Safety Culture Ladder certification

Safety Culture Ladder certification, how?

In more and more sectors, demonstrably safe working is no longer a choice, but a hard requirement from clients and chain partners. Organizations that invest in safety build trust, continuity and a stronger market position. The demand for companies with a demonstrably mature safety culture is growing rapidly within construction, infrastructure, industry and technology. With a professional approach to safety, an organization shows that employees are central. That is precisely why safety culture ladder certification is increasingly included in tenders and contract conditions. As a result, companies without certification are increasingly missing out on commercial opportunities. Was already step 2 in high demand from January 1, 2022; from 1 July 2026, step 3 will be the minimum requirement for ViA tenders.  

A strong safety culture also leads to less downtime, higher involvement and better operational performance. Organizations that take security seriously visibly distinguish themselves from competitors that only comply with minimal legislation. Certification shows that safety is not just on paper, but actually lives within the organization. Employees feel more responsible and are more likely to call each other to account for safe behaviour. Suppliers and subcontractors are also increasingly critical of safety awareness and cooperation. As a result, the need to structurally safeguard processes, behavior and leadership is growing. 

A successful implementation of safety culture ladder certification requires continuous monitoring, communication and improvement. Separate documents and static folder structures are often insufficient for this and quickly become outdated. Organizations need real-time insight into notifications, audits, toolboxes, actions and areas for improvement. Only then will a culture be created in which safety remains continuously visible and measurable. That is why a 'living' digital management system is nowadays indispensable for organizations that are serious about safety culture. Such a system connects processes, employees and management information in one central environment. This not only meets audit and compliance requirements, but also creates a sustainable foundation for growth, trust and successful safety culture ladder certification.

The ladder divides safety awareness and safety behaviour over five steps:

Safety Culture Ladder certification, not a 'checklist'

The Safety Culture Ladder focuses on culture and certainly also on behaviour within an organisation. It is not a checklist from a handbook, which must be followed as an ingrained pattern. Easy to tick off with a checklist: yes, no or not applicable. Not so.

From 6 business aspects, which are in turn divided into 18 business characteristics, the total performance is assessed with a score.

• Leadership and commitment
  Characteristics: Management interest, employee engagement, performance rewards
   
• Policy and strategy
  Characteristics: Accident causation, profitability and continuity
   
• Organization and contractors
  Characteristics: Contractors, competence and training, H&S department
   
• Workplace and procedures
  Characteristics: Work planning, workplace safety, procedures
   
• Anomalies and communication
  Characteristics: Reporting, investigation and follow-up of incidents, daily check-ups, meetings
   
• Audits and statistics
  Characteristics: Audits and reviews, trends and statistics 

Each step has a minimum number of points. To move up to a higher step, all requirements within a step must be met.

Safety Culture Ladder certification = 'living' management system

In order to be able to manage all business aspects of the safety ladder, an integrated (safety) management system is required: 

• Capture, authorize, and communicate policies
• Defining and communicating tasks, responsibilities and authorities
• Establish procedures and communicate with read confirmation if necessary
• Review and evaluate incidents and follow up on action for improvement
• Systematically carry out inspections and audits and resolve discrepancies

A digital (safety) management system can do so much more, not comparable to the well-known 'VCA checklist'. (Just for fun, put the cloud solution below online in 60 seconds as a test ....)
And look for the differences with the well-known 'checklist' ...