Indicators Of A Negative Health And Safety Culture.
A Brief Overview of Health and Safety Culture:
The term Health and Safety culture refers to the beliefs (What Employees think about) , amount of value (Employees importance to) and the attitude (Employees behaviour)of company and it's employees (Management) related to health and safety. Health and Safety Culture covers the attitude, behaviour, and habits of employees, management, clients, contractors and their influence of how health and safety is prioritised and addressed by them.
Importance of a Positive Health and Safety Culture:
Promoting a positive Health and Safety culture is essential for reducing the rate of accidents, injuries and fatalities in any company. A positive health and safety culture fosters safety as a shared responsibility for the employees of the company. It also encourages open communication that leads to the promotion of proactive approach of risk management.
A positive health and safety culture also improves the morale of employee, creates job satisfaction which will increase their productivity and reduce the staff turnover.
Moreover, positive health and safety culture reduces the costs related to accidents. It will also prevent company from the regulatory cost as a result of non-compliance with safety regulations. It will support compliance with international safety standards. By prioritising health and safety, company can create a safe work environment and can also achieve long term success.
In this blog we are going to help students/company to identify the warning signs of negative health and safety culture. I will provide some indicators that will help you identify that the culture is negative in the company. So lets get into it.
Indicators of Negative Health and Safety Culture:
1- Poor Management Commitment to Health and Safety:
When the management is not or poorly committed to health and safety it means that it do not prioritise the well-being of employees. It suggest that the management does not value to safety of employees and consider health and safety a meaning less thing. Poor management commitment to health and safety leads to lack of accountability, lack of resources and lack of training resulting in the promotion of a culture where health and safety is not a shared responsibility of every employee.
Moreover, health and safety is often neglected of less-prioritised when management is not committed to it. Therefore, employees may feel that there concerns are ignored and not taken seriously resulting in culture of fear and mistrust. This can also lead to high risk of illness, accidents and fatalities.
2-Lack of Health and Safety Policy:
This indicator indicates negative Health and Safety culture because of the absence of guidance about managing safety risks. As health and safety policy clearly guides and outlines the commitment of company, objectives and protocols of health and safety to every employee, client and contractor. Therefore, without health and safety policy employees may stay unfamiliar with their responsibilities and management may do not held responsible for health and safety performance. This can lead to confusion, misconceptions and internal conflicts resulting in high risk of injuries, accidents and fatalities.
A clearly communicated health and safety policy indicates positive health and safety culture and it's absence indicates negative health and safety culture and poor management commitment as well.
3-Inadequate training of employees:
Inadequate training of employees also indicates negative health and safety culture because it shows that the management is not investing its time in money for ensuring the competence of employees so that they can perform their jobs safely. Without proper training employees stay unfamiliar with the hazards of site, emergency procedures and unsafe actions resulting in increase in risk of accidents and injuries.
This can also lead to the lack of competence resulting in the culture of blame and mistrust. Employees may blame and point finger to each other for mistakes, resulting in mutual conflicts and risk of Work-Related Violence.
Also inadequate training of employees can lead to loss of property and money. When an employee is not trained properly for his job, he might will do mistakes and unsafe actions. He will damage property such as machinery and equipment's of the company.
Inadequate training of employees also indicate poor management commitment to health and safety. Lack of proper training also leads to lack of accountability as employees may do not know what the company expect from them.
4- Absence/lack of safety meetings:
When there is no or less safety meetings are held in a company, different safety related concerns remain unknown and unresolved. This indicates negative health and safety culture because it suggests inadequate communication, identification and discussion of safety concerns. Health and Safety meetings provide a forum to employees to raise issues, report unsafe actions and conditions, discuss safety protocols with professionals. Without these meetings safety related issues become unaddressed and employees may think that there issues are not heard and valued by the company's management.
A silence culture will be raised in the company because the employees will feel uncomfortable to speak. This will shut the mouths of employees and workers will not report any unsafe condition, incident or near-miss.
Regular safety meetings demonstrates management commitment and develops a will to listen and learn.
Rather than that safety issues will not be addressed resulting in lack of accountability and transparency. Without safety meetings a culture will be developed where health and safety is just a meaningless and not a shared responsibility for employees. Also employees will not participate as a active role in health and safety management system.
5-Absence of Emergency Procedures:
Absence of emergency procedures indicates lack of preparation for hazards and incidents, therefore it indicates negative health and safety culture in any company. Emergency procedures clearly outlines the steps to be taken in case of emergency (such as fire or natural disasters) to ensure effective and on time response. Without Emergency procedures employees (and everyone on site) may not get familiar with their responsibilities and what they have to do in case of emergency.
Absence of Emergency procedures also leads to confusion, panic and severe situation in emergency.
Moreover, lack of emergency procedures also leads to a culture of satisfaction without taking hazards and risks seriously. This can lead to a lack of accountability, and a failure to learn from incidents or near-misses.
6-Absence of Reporting Procedures:
Absence of adequate reporting procedures indicates negative health and safety culture because it leads to the culture of silence and lack of accountability inside the company. Without proper reporting procedures employees may feel discouraged to report accident, incidents and near-misses. This could lead to raise issues in identifying and mitigating potential hazards. By not reporting hazards and incidents risk of accidents and injuries increases resulting in huge losses for company. Absence of reporting procedures indicates lack of commitment to continuous improvement in HSE field and a culture of denial where safety concerns are not addressed.
Moreover, the absence of reporting procedures leads to a fear based environment where employees stay reluctant to report and raise safety issues. This can also lead to a culture of under-reporting, where only the most severe incidents are reported, and a lack of data for safety improvements.
7- Lack of employees involvement in making decisions:
Making important safety decisions without involving those who are directly affected by it, is a top-down approach of company management. This approach also indicates negative health and safety culture. Participation of employees in safety decisions is crucial to identify hazards, report unsafe conditions and develop safety protocols in company. Without it, employees may feel disconnected from safety decisions, leading to a lack of ownership and accountability. This can result in a culture of compliance rather than commitment, where employees follow rules rather than taking an active role in safety management.
Moreover, Lack of employees involvement shows that the management does not value their perspective and experiences. This can lead to bad relationship between management and workers.
8-Inadequate Personal Protective Equipment's (PPE's):
Inadequate personal protective equipment's (PPE's) indicates a negative health and safety culture as it suggests a lack of commitment to protecting employees from hazards. PPE's is a critical control measure to prevent injuries and illnesses. Inadequate PPE's demonstrates a failure to prioritise employee safety and well-being, and a lack of attention to detail. This can lead to a culture of neglect, where employees are not provided with the necessary tools to perform their jobs safely.
Moreover, Inadequate Personal Protective Equipment's PPE's can also indicate a lack of resources, training, and maintenance, which can contribute to a culture of complacency. Employees may feel that their safety is not valued, leading to a lack of trust and confidence in management. This can result in a culture of fear, where employees are reluctant to report safety concerns or near-misses.
9- Bad Housekeeping:
A bad housekeeping also indicates negative health and safety culture inside the company because it means that the company has lack of attention in details and respect for the workplace. Poor housekeeping can cause trip hazards, fire hazards and many more safety risks. It demonstrates a lack of commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy work environment in the workplace. Employees may feel that safety is not a priority, leading to a lack of motivation to report safety concerns or take an active role in safety management.
10- High staff turnover rate:
An employee only leaves the company if he do not feel supported, safe or valued in the organisation. If the staff turnover rate is high than it means that health and safety culture of the company is Negative. High staff turnover is the sign of unresolved safety issues, lack of resources and other health and safety related concerns. A high turnover rate can also suggest that employees do not feel empowered to report safety concerns or near-misses, or that their concerns are not being addressed.
11-Absenteeism:
When the employees do not feel comfortable with their working condition, they start disliking their job and try to find a excuse to make leave from duty. A high rate of absenteeism in a company indicates that the employees are not well or supported in their work hours. absenteeism can be a sign of underlying physical or mental health issues, such as stress, fatigue, or musculoskeletal disorders, which can be linked to workplace hazards or poor working conditions.
Moreover, High rate of absentees also indicates lack of motivation and job satisfaction of employees, which is a clear sign of negative health and safety culture. A high rate of absenteeism can also put extra pressure on remaining employees, leading to increased workload, stress, and fatigue (Mental/Physical), which can further cause many safety issues.
12-Lack of inspections:
Conducting regular inspections of workplace is essential to identify hazards, monitor compliance and implement controls to mitigate risks. identification of hazards and implementation of control measures may not be done without inspections. If company management is not conducting inspections or not investing his time and money to conduct regular inspection, then it is a clear indicator of negative health and safety culture. This lack of attention to safety can indicate a culture of complacency, where safety is not valued or prioritised.
Moreover, without safety inspection non of the employee is could be held responsible for safety concerns. It is difficult to manage accountability without inspection because lack of inspection fosters a culture where accountability is not possible.
13-Lack of Safety Audits:
When management of the company is failed to conduct safety audits it means that safety is not managed proactively. Safety Audits are crucial for identifying hazards and lags, assessing safety performance, evaluating controls and assessing the compliance. Potential safety risks cannot be identified without safety audits and the company will not be able to take actions to mitigate them.
In short, without audits, safety issues cannot be addressed, and accidents can occur, leading to injuries, fines, and damage to reputation.
15-Failure to take corrective actions for safety issues:
Without taking corrective actions for safety issues, creation of a positive health and safety culture is not possible. A positive health and safety culture means that the working environment should be free from all kind of hazards and risks and it could be be only done by taking a proactive approach of implementing corrective actions. When management do not prioritise safety issues it means that the health and safety culture is negative as it shows that lack of management commitment to health and safety. Failure to take actions for safety issues leads to a culture of laziness where management do not value the well-being and safety of employees. A failure to take corrective actions can also indicate a lack of resources, inadequate training, or insufficient safety protocols, which can further lead to safety many issues.
Moreover, This can create a culture of neglect, where safety is not implemented into daily operations, and employees are put at risk of injury or harm. By not taking corrective actions, organisation demonstrate a lack of commitment to safety, which can have severe consequences such as legal notices, fines and penalties and company might be sealed and permanently banned by regulatory authorities.
16-Lack of accountability in safety matters:
Lack of accountability in safety matters means that nobody could be held responsible for safety matters. When there is a matter of safety and well-being of employees, one should must be held responsible for it so that a positive and safe working environment could be created. When there is not responsible person to reinforce safety protocols in any company, there must be a negative health and safety culture. This can also lead to a culture of complacency, where employees feel that safety is not important, and managers are not held responsible for safety performance.
Moreover, this can result in a culture of blame, where employees are blamed for accidents or near-misses, rather than investigating and addressing root causes.
17- Blame Culture:
A blame culture in a workplace means that all the employees are blaming and punishing each other for accidents, incidents and other safety related mistakes, rather than finding the root cause and mitigating it.
Blame culture is a culture where individuals (employees) are blamed for each other instead of investigating the root cause and implementing control actions on it. Blame culture also leads to culture of fear. Employees may not report incidents and accidents due to fear of punishment. This culture fosters overall focus of employees on assigning blames rather than leaning from mistakes and implementing controls measures. It also causes the lack of accountability where incidents are swept under the carpet but not been investigated and addressed.
Moreover, this can lead to:
Under-reporting of incidents and near-misses.
Lack of trust and engagement from employees.
Inadequate incident investigation and analysis.
Failure to identify and address root causes.
Inadequate implementation of corrective actions.
A reactive approach to safety management rather than a proactive one.
18-No Goals for safety achievements:
Setting no safety goals means that the company does not have any plan for the safety of employees. It's like trying to start a journey without a map or destination. Without goals, there's no way to measure safety progress of or identify areas to improve. It's like driving blindfolded and risking accidents and injuries.
When an organisation does not have any plan for identifying and mitigating the risks it means that they do not have a clear plan to prioritise safety and well-being of employees. This indicates that the safety is not a priority, which is creating a negative safety culture. Without Safety goals, HSE progress can't be measured, and areas for improvement can't be identified. A clear plan with goals and objectives is essential to create a positive safety culture where workers feel safe and valued. If there is no goal for safety and well-being of workers then its a clear sign of negative health and safety culture.
19-Inadequate Safety Resources:
Inadequate resources for safety means an organisation is not providing enough money, equipment or trained personnel to keep workers safe. In simple words company is not allocating budget for safety purposes. This shows safety is not a priority in this company. And the company is putting workers in danger. It's like trying to build a house without enough materials or skilled workers.
Lack of safety resources in a company is a clear indicator of negative health and safety culture. When the management of any company fails to provide sufficient resources for health and safety, it means that they are not committed to health and safety. Inadequate resources may include inadequate training, lack of safety budget, insufficient personal protective equipment or inadequate maintenance of equipment and machinery. This can lead to accidents, near-misses, and a culture of fear, where employees feel unsafe and unsupported. Inadequate resources for safety can have severe consequences, including injuries, fines, damage to reputation and company might be sealed by the authorities.
19-Lack of refreshers training:
No safety training for new employees means that new workers are thrown into the job without being taught how to do it safely.
No safety training for newly hired workers indicates a negative health and safety culture. When new workers start a job without safety training, they are more likely to get hurt or make mistakes that can harm them and others as well. This shows that the organisation do not care about employees safety or well-being. Proper safety training for new employees is essential to teach them how to do their job safely to prevent accidents. Without training, new employees are left to figure things out on their own, which can have serious consequences. This lack of training shows that safety is not a priority in the company.
20-No review of safety documentation:
Safety documentations (such as HSE policy, procedures, risk assessments etc) are very important guides for employees of the organisation to follow. It is important to review and update after a year or a specific time or after organisational changes such as change in rules, machinery or equipment. If not, these documentations become out-dated, irrelevant and even dangerous for the well-being of employees. It leads to difficulties in safety audits, inspections and accident investigations. If management of the company fails to review safety documentation properly, it means that they are not committed to continuous improvements.
Without regular reviews, employees may be following outdated procedures, which can lead to accidents and injuries. When a health and safety policy is not reviewed and updated, employees may follow the old protocols resulting in misconceptions and lack of seriousness. This is how no review to safety documentation indicates negative health and safety culture.
21-Inadequate and improper safety communication:
Inadequate and improper safety communication have many severe consequences. It the most important lagging factor to be identified and fixed as soon as possible. Inadequate safety communication means that the management is failed to share safety information to employees.
When safety information is not clearly communicated (Shared) by the employees, they stay in dark about potential hazards and risks of the workplace. They would not know how they can tackle in the emergency situation or when they exposed to hazards. This can lead to accidents, injuries and near-misses. Therefore, it is important to create a clear communication channel between management and the employees.
Read (How Negative Health and Safety Culture Could be Improved)
[Declaimer/Note: You can use this knowledge of Indicators of Negative health and safety culture in your NEBOSH IGC exam, but make sure that you apply this knowledge in your scenario. Do not just copy and paste in your exam.]
This blog is written by HSEWALA.
Hope this blog finds you well and informative. Thanks for visiting HSEWALA.
Regards: Rehan Waseem
