Posted By Phill Firmin See the following report, which might interest you, the HSE website - the link follows: WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY SURVEY PROGRAMME 2005 WORKER SURVEY FIRST FINDINGS REPORT http://www.googlesyndica...arch.com/u/HSEC?q=survey HSE also have a H&S Climate Tool, but I havn't used it. Kind regasrds, Phill.

Posted By William why not ask what safety precautions employees take at home when carrying out DIY, this would show whether they are taking precautions at work because they are told to or because they understand the risk and consequences.

Posted By Ian G Hutchings Not wishing to distract from the original thread.... Perhaps instead of culture you could use 'value'. What percentage of people in a business have a true belief in the value of health and safety standards. I don't think you can have a definitive or scientific measure of 'culture'. What you can do is using set and agreed criteria and the right experience assess an organisation's ability to effectively manage risk. I find organisations normally have a curve across different 'types' of culture. You cannot have everyone in one place; but what you can do is try and encourage and support the majority who have a strong belief that the H&S principles in the business are of value. To them as individuals and to the wider environment. The only way, in my opinion, to achieve this is through excellent safety leadership (which can be taught, supported and coached), involvement in setting clear standards and consistent and fair measurement. With the right method and agreement I have found that business (safety) culture can be assessed and used as the base for improvement. All the best Ian

Posted By Frank Newman This is still merv. And I'm going to be quoting a bit from the books on my shelf. In the 1990's a study by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations, back upped by a later study at British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. indicated that only 20% of accidents were attributable to inadequacies of equipment and plant, with the remaining 80% being caused by people based factors such as poor managerial control, worker competencies and breaches of rules. Thus, safety culture could be defined as ; "the product of individual and group values, attitudes and competences and patterns of behaviour that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organisation's health and safety programme". Put very much more simply, "our culture ? That's the way we do things around here". Getting away from the above blah-blah, when I do a site audit, the most important factors for me are management attitudes, behaviours, reactions and expectations. When these are poor then they are gonna kill people. So, base your questionnaire on those factors and how they are perceived by employees. Merv

Posted By David G C check your mailbox

Posted By Andy Brazier I believe it was Trevor Kletz that pointed out that unfortunately there is no thermometer-type device available to measure culture directly. But that does not mean it is not important. What we can do is assess factors that indicate what type of culture exists. This is great, but it is important to acknowledge the potential problems with doing this. I feel that you need to know pretty well what the culture is before you try and measure it. This may sound daft, but if your results are wildly different from what people are expecting they simply won't accept them. What people actually want from the measurement exercise is an explanation of why the culture they know exists is the way it is. Of course the measurement can throw up some surprises, but I would say this is more about how widespread a known problem is, or areas of extreme difference. I usually get a very good feel for a company's culture after quite a short amount of time. And I am sure anyone who can go in with an open and enquiring mind can. The problem for people working close to the organisation is that it is difficult for them to be objective, and this is where measurement can assist greatly.

Posted By isfew I have also been charged at looking into the current culture of my company. The HSE did produce a Safety Culture/Climate Tool (Software) some years ago which I thought may be of some use. (At least a start). However, I'm sure whether this is still available. As far as I am aware there were question sets on various subjects that provided a 'score'. This may help as as start...regarding a 'base' to work from. As always there are numerous suggestions on how to do it, but at the end of the day it's down to the practitioner to decide what would be most relevant for his or her company. Mine is R&D based so it would be interesting to how h&s is perceived among the troops. I too would appreciate some suggestions and help with this. Does anyone know whether the HSE tool is still on the market or could perhaps point me in the right direction? All contributions greatly received of course. Thanks in advance. Best Regards, Ian.