(23b) Safety Culture: “Black Art” or “Paradigm Shift”?

Culture is an elusive concept but can be defined simply as: ?The way we do things around here?. Many efforts have been made to understand and influence it due to its well established relevance in the overall performance of organizations. Catastrophic industrial accidents have been frequently associated to breakdowns in Safety Culture. A robust Safety Culture needs to be based on a clear commitment from leadership and sound mechanisms to ensure continuous improvement (Management Systems). Statistical analysis performed in BP showed evidence of the relationship between Safety Culture and incidents, with the results being consistent with established theory. In June 2005 a project was undertaken to identify a model of Safety Culture for BP and develop assessment and improvement tools. Five sites volunteered across segments to be pilots for the project and best-in-class organizations were visited, including a US aircraft carrier. What the theory, the BP pilots and the best?in-class have in common has been used to construct the Safety Culture model. An organization with outstanding Safety Culture needs to be: informed (leaders know what is going on and are competent), mindful (everybody thinks of what might go wrong), continuously learning (all events are seen as opportunities to learn), fair (everybody knows the rules and are held accountable for their actions) and respectful (people feel included, treated fairly and their personal circumstances are important). Some elements of the model are innovative and emphasize the importance of inclusiveness and trust also with respect to Safety. Common trends have been identified in BP Safety Culture which shed a whole new light on ways to improve Safety both at a local level and at an organizational level. The project has raised awareness of the importance of social relations at work and the relevance of local culture in the way Safety is managed. In some cultures the act of challenging is more difficult than in others and challenge is crucial when Safety is being compromised. The assessments done so far are pointing toward both local and organizational barriers and enablers to improve Safety. The assessments act as ?mirrors? for the organizations, enabling them to reflect in an objective way on what people see and think. The improvement tools and coaching program based on the findings are helping Business Units or sites to develop and enhance their Safety Culture. Additionally, some interventions have been made at organization level to support the overall improvement of BP Safety Culture.