Have you ever wondered why your organisation’s Safety Management System might not be delivering the results you expect, despite policies and processes being in place? Or why your continuous improvement cycle feels stagnant?
The answer often lies in your safety culture, the two are intertwined!
A continuous improvement cycle
- Most organisations operate continuous improvement lifecycles. An easy way to showcase how the management system (in this case an SMS) and safety culture fits into organisations is through a well-known “Plan, Do, Check, Act” cycle.
- The premise is that each time the cycle has completed a revolution, the safety of the service should be improved.
- Underpinning this continuous improvement lifecycle and effectively keeping the wheel spinning is the organisation and its culture.
- Continuous improvement cannot be achieved without support from the organisation and the people within it.
Safety Culture
- Acts as the foundation that enables the team to actively engage with business procedures and processes.
- Builds trust so employees feel confident that when they submit reports and highlight challenges and successes to the business, actions will be taken to improve the service being delivered.
- The team actively input into the management system.
A management system is a framework
- Typically, the Safety Management System is a Framework that translates the values of the safety culture into concrete actions.
- It provides the tools and processes for identifying hazards, assessing risks, and implementing controls to prevent accidents.
- Additionally, it provides processes to support training, education and promotion.
Mutual reinforcement between SMS and Culture
- A positive safety culture encourages active participation in the management system.
- Employees who value safety are more likely to report hazards, participate in safety training, follow safety procedures and notify the business when procedures are not working.
- This continuous improvement strengthens both the culture and the system over time.
- Simply put, one cannot work effectively without the other.
Partner with Ebeni
Ebeni stands ready to support you in your journey towards proactive safety management and a positive and engaged safety culture.