On this page: What is meant by safety culture? | Related projects
This page describes the concept of 'safety culture'. More information will be added to this page as safety culture projects are developed.
What is meant by safety culture?
Safety culture can be broadly described as the underlying values within an organisation that affect the beliefs and attitudes of its members and guides their safety behaviours. It is “the way things are done around here” with respect to safety.
An organisation with a poor safety culture will have an increased likelihood of experiencing accidents compared with, for example, an organisation whose leadership and staff hold shared beliefs about the importance of safety.
Safety culture has been implicated in a number of large scale organisational accidents both in Australia and overseas. In recognition of the importance of safety culture, the Rail Safety Regulations 2006 include a requirement for accredited rail operators to include in their safety management system methods to promote and maintain a positive safety culture.
Related projects
The Data Collection Quality Project aims to increase the quality and quantify of safety occurrence data reported to PTSV. As reporting culture is linked to safety culture, this project aims to boost the reporting culture in accredited rail organisations, leading to improvements in safety culture.