Rank: New forum user 
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Hi All.
Please no construction based comments. I work for a very large uk corporate business and I would like to know if anyone has achieved (tried and tested) a H&S culture predominatly aimed at office workers. I have used the HSL's safety climate tool in the past for engineering and I have read many articales about what is required to implement and maintain a safety culture. So please just something I can use to engage the office based workforce. training or other aid memoires will be helpful. Just UK please. Thanks ActSafe.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Never did one for a purely office based environment (Offices but also labs and fieldworkers). We used the Safety Climate Tool and found there was no clear pattern. Some teams were really engaged and took H&S very seriously. Others seemed to regard it as an unnecessary nuisance or simply a matter of compliance. We started to look at what the disinterested teams expected and tried to find ways of engaging them, for example by delivering them relevant training. Before we made much headway, the whole organisation was set up for privatisation and my role disappeared in a puff of administrative smoke. As far as I know they did not progress on the H&S culture idea after that.
The things I would say are: - Have a clear idea of what you want to achieve-don’t just say a positive H&S culture- what do you want on the ground
- Get support from the top, bottom and middle. If certain layers of the organisation reject your ideas you will not get anywhere.
- Don’t expect things to change overnight. One presentation to staff no matter how brilliant, will not suddenly convert everybody to your way of thinking. It will have to be a drip fed approach.
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 1 user thanked A Kurdziel for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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I have implemented a number of Safety Climate Surveys and my thinking about a 'positive safety culture' is very much in line with A Kurdziel's comments. A SCS may not be the panacea you might expect for a number of different reasons. For example, the surveys results are only as good as the questions/statements you ask. In short, a SCS is a bit like a box of chocolates...
A lot of work needs to go into planning, producing, monitoring, collecting and analysing the results. Indeed, if any errors are made they cannot be undone when the wheels have been set in motion, there are plenty of pitfalls - trust me. When all that has been done then you need to create an Action Plan based on the results, with action owners and reasonable timescales to carry them out. Don't forget to provide good feeback, otherwise respondents will not appreciate the lack of transparency. Good luck.
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2 users thanked RayRapp for this useful post.
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Rank: New forum user
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Thnaks Guys.AK & Ray.
Your responses have confirmed what I already know but valuable all the same. Its frustrating when you advise senior management following their requests to look at measuring a safety culture and then when you mention their commitment a cold breeze blows acros the whoe subject. I gues thats why we do what we do to make a difference. Thanks again.
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Rank: Super forum user
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I might suggest, based on what you have said that this is a brainwave from management, not yourself and they may be tempted to go down the behavioral safety road. There is a lot of stuff on this forum about this approach, mainly I would suggest negative in that it seen by the people in the offices on the top floor, behind the big desks as an opportunity to dump H&S down onto the front line.
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Rank: Forum user
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Hi ActSafe The first question is 'what do you want them to do? what changes do you want to make? ok so thats two but you get my drift. In an office I would imagine the biggest issue is Housekeeping, posture at a PC and a bit of Manual Handling. So once you have highlighted what you want to change or improve think how you could do that. Office staff are a collective audiance, they dont really tend to go anywhere and are an easy bunch to manage. Pick one at a time and focus on that, start with house keeping and what the issues are there; trailing cables, untidy desks, spillages in the kitchen area etc and ask people how they think this could be improved, what could be done better? get them involved and pick some low hanging fruit or easy fixes. Maybe they have something they have been moaning about for ages (lights out or something) see if you can get them addressed as this will get them on your side, they can see that issues are being addressed. Dont try to do to many changes at once and dont use a big stick approach.
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