Safety Culture Ladder, more than a 'software tool'
Safety Culture Ladder, what is it?
The vSafety Culture Ladder is an assessment method to measure and improve safety awareness and conscious safe action in an organization. Developed by Prorail. The aim is to reduce the number of unsafe situations resulting in fewer (safety) incidents (absenteeism and damage) and to increase safety awareness. The Safety Culture Ladder provides frameworks for safe working for organisations operating in various sectors.
From 2021, the safety ladder will be mandatory for tenders in the construction industry.
The ladder divides safety awareness and safety behaviour over five steps:
| Step 1 Pathological |
- 'As long as we comply with the law'
- 'Nothing goes wrong with us'
- 'Don't waste time on preventive things'
- 'What you don't know, doesn't hurt'
|
| Step 2 Reactive |
- Only change AFTER something has gone wrong
- Reaction based on ingrained patterns
- Not thinking ahead
|
| Step 3 Calculating |
- Takes responsibility but self-interest first
- Certain safety rules are important
- There are systems in place to manage risks
- Involvement mainly with (higher) management
|
| Step 4 Proactive |
- Continuous investment in safety awareness
- Safety is a high priority
- Problems are addressed
- Thinking ahead and taking initiative
|
| Step 5 Progressive |
- Safety is fully integrated
- Safety is part of all business processes
- Safety is highly valued
- Everyone sticks to it
|
Safety Culture Ladder and 'software tool'
The Safety Culture Ladder focuses on culture and certainly also on behaviour within an organisation. It is not a set of procedures that must be followed as an ingrained pattern. Easy to tick off with a paper checklist or conveniently executed in a software tool and web tool. 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 = 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 a 'software tool'. (Just for fun, put the cloud solution below online in 60 seconds as a test ....)
And spot the differences ...
