Abstract
“Few things are so sought after and yet so little understood.” With this pithy statement, psychologist James Reason expressed the potential value but also the elusiveness of this complex social-scientific concept twenty years ago (Reason, Managing the risks of organizational accidents. Ashgate, Aldershot, 1997). Culture had been on the mind of safety scientists since Turner’s book Man-made disasters from 1978, but the term ‘safety culture’ was only coined nine years later, right after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Since then, safety culture has been alluring as a cause—for both occupational accidents and process related events—and as a thing to strive for, although possibly unattainable (Guldenmund, Understanding and exploring safety culture. BOXPress, Oisterwijk, 2010). In this chapter, I will look at various perspectives on (safety) culture, using the metaphor as an illuminative principle, to identify (what seems to be) the essence of some dominating perspectives. Firstly, however, a common understanding of what culture ‘is’, needs to be established. I will then touch upon the assessment of culture. Afterwards, I will present four metaphors for safety culture, which represent the dominant perspectives on this concept. The chapter ends with suggestions on how safety culture might be influenced.
Highlights
Abstract “Few things are so sought after and yet so little understood.” With this pithy statement, psychologist James Reason expressed the potential value and the elusiveness of this complex social-scientific concept twenty years ago
Safety culture assessment techniques at the ordinal level of measurement are usually represented by ladders; i.e., stairways leading to a desirable level of safety performance
The popularity of safety culture has led to a labyrinth of papers and approaches on what it is and is not and how to assess it, mimicking a similar boom in the 80s on the topic of organizational culture
Summary
Abstract “Few things are so sought after and yet so little understood.” With this pithy statement, psychologist James Reason expressed the potential value and the elusiveness of this complex social-scientific concept twenty years ago Abstract “Few things are so sought after and yet so little understood.”. With this pithy statement, psychologist James Reason expressed the potential value and the elusiveness of this complex social-scientific concept twenty years ago Safety culture has been alluring as a cause—for both occupational accidents and process related events—and as a thing to strive for, possibly unattainable I will look at various perspectives on (safety) culture, using the metaphor as an illuminative principle, to identify (what seems to be) the essence of some dominating perspectives. Afterwards, I will present four metaphors for safety culture, which represent the dominant perspectives on this concept. Á Á Keywords Safety culture Culture model Culture development Á Culture assessment Culture metaphors
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
