Safety culture

Safety culture refers to the individual’s and organisation’s ability and willingness to:

• prioritise safety,
• understand what safe operation is like,
• identify what kind of threats are related to the individuals`s and organisation’s activities,
• manage the risks related to his/her/its activities and operate safely,
• commit to safe operation at all levels and in organisations and concerning all outsourced operations,
• identify, foster and constantly develop elements that maintain and promote safety.

Safety culture is never created purely by the organisation alone; it always includes national, educational and professional elements. The most important task of organisations is to identify the elements that are directly related to their sphere of influence and, based on this, set a target level for safety culture and introduce procedures to achieve this target. These procedures are related to e.g. recruitment and its criteria, employee training, ensuring open communication throughout the organisation, and development of the organisation’s operations.

The heart of safety culture is people’s belief in the importance of safety, including the experience of safe actions and priorities being reflected throughout the operating chain; their own organisation and all other actors. Thus, safety culture can be positive, negative or neutral.

National culture as a contributor to safety culture

National cultures can be different and have distinct national characteristics and value systems. Differences between national cultures can influence e.g. how people view authorities, how they handle insecurity and uncertainty, and how they express their individuality. Cultural differences can be seen in how people have been integrated to meet the collective needs of a group (team or organisation), for example. Cultural differences can impact a person’s working practices and how they work with a partner or in a group. For example, a person’s eagerness to report issues that affect safety, especially in a situation where they must challenge an existing procedure or authority, is influenced by their culture. A person might also struggle to bring up their own unintentional mistakes due to their culture. In the global operating environment of international air transport, it is important to recognise the potential influence of cultural differences, take proactive measures to prevent misunderstandings and ensure that the established procedures’ intended outcomes are realised.

Vocational culture as a contributor to safety culture

Vocational culture influences the characteristics and value systems of specific occupational groups (e.g. a pilot’s typical behaviour in relation to the behaviour of air traffic controllers or maintenance personnel). Personnel selection, training and education, work experience, peer pressure, etc. influence experts (e.g. doctors, legal counsels, pilots, supervisors) to adopt a value system and harmonise their behaviour patterns. They are proud of their occupation and motivated to succeed professionally. On the other hand, they can adopt value systems that lead them to believe that they are invulnerable, personal problems do not impact their performance or that mistakes are not made under high pressure.

Organisational culture as a contributor to safety culture

Organisational culture separates the characteristics and value chains of specific organisations from each other. This means the behaviour of one organisation’s members in relation to the behaviour of another organisation’s members. Differences in organisational cultures are also influenced by e.g. differences in operating in the public or the private sector. Organisations provide a framework for national and vocational cultures. For example, an airline’s pilots can have diverse professional (military aviation vs civil aviation, recreational or general aviation activities compared to a development within a large airline) or cultural backgrounds. During their careers, they may have experienced different types of organisational cultures even within the same field. Organisational cultures can also merge following joint ventures between companies or merger and acquisition transactions.

Just culture and reporting culture as elements of and contributors to safety culture 

Good reporting culture and a Just Culture environment are essential elements in the safety culture of aviation organisations and a prerequisite for the good performance of their safety management systems. The significance of these cultures is described in separate subsections: