Who should keep you safe at work?

“Not a problem, it is my manager's responsibility to keep me safe at work.” ^{[ref 1]}

The IOSH model of safety defines four stages in an organisation’s safety cultural maturity – embryonic, active, proactive and integrated.

This model has been built around the idea and concepts of safety cultures in an organisation. It illustrates the journey of cultural maturity and suggests prevalent attitudes at the various stages.

Some organisations spend many years investing in their business and workers to be able to get to the integrated level. And they invest further in continuous improvements to be able to stay there. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach to getting there, but it’s about striving for beyond compliance.

Finding the right level

However, it is important to remember that for some organisations, the embryonic level is suitable and sufficient. They remain at this level for several reasons. The nature of their activities and the risks they face are low, they are at the early stages of conception, or their economic situation does not allow them to develop beyond this level.

Some of these organisations may look like the following.^{[ref 1]}

• Compliance is an aspirational goal.
• Systems and procedures to manage safety are emerging.
• Technical expertise engaged on an ‘as-and-when’ basis.
• Limited understanding of business risks around safety.
• Workforce training needs are on an ‘as-and-when’ basis.
• Leadership behaviours evident after an incident or failure.

For organisations wanting to make improvements in their organisation’s safety maturity, they must first understand the current level. Then start making plans to improve.

If organisations at this level employ occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals, initially their focus must be on compliance and enforcement of standards. However, they can also take positive steps to improve the culture of the organisation by:

• being open and communicating the reporting of accidents and incidents
• talking and having conversations with workers regarding their jobs and tasks
• being a person who workers can turn to with their concerns without feeling awkward or fear of being reprimanded.

To move to the next stage you need to create an improvement plan. Communicating this plan to the workforce is beneficial. It helps them feel they can be on board and the organisation is committed to improving the overall culture of the workplace.

A common framework used for improvement plans is the 'plan, do, check, act' model. This can also be used to come back to any part of the process and make further improvements before moving on. These improvements can be large or small, but using this model will highlight what gradual improvements the organisation can make to safety practices and procedures.

If you’re a member of IOSH, you can access the Blueprint guide on culture. It includes a questionnaire to help with any further actions, including scoring your own organisation.

If you aren’t a member with access to Blueprint, what actions will you take to start an improvement plan?

References

1. Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). Culture guide: Implement. (available at – Blueprint CPD resource library, accessible only to IOSH members) [accessed 14 February 2025]