In 1980, Dov Zohar addressed various implications of assessing safety climate through a 40-item questionnaire in order to improve safety-related outcomes. Zohar wrote one of the first scholarly works pertaining to safety climate and I was intrigued. His work led to more research on my part during a time when there were many heated debates regarding the assessment of broader forms of organizational climate – not safety alone. Amongst the many arguments, there were questions raised regarding the validity and ethical use of surveys to gather culturally-based information through surveys alone. Many believed that culture assessments should largely be addressed by direct observation and interviews rather than through the use of surveys. In the late 1980s, I began using various self-developed safety perception surveys which proved quite useful.
Through the 1990s, the climate-culture debates continued and became more pronounced. However, this led to more common uses of surveys to better understand one’s culture for safety, primarily through climate surveys. Since that time, I have seen several common mistakes that should be avoided when examining ones climate and culture for safety. Averting these pitfalls can make for a more accurate and useful understanding of your safety climate.
4. Aggregating Data. Another common problem that I have seen in working with safety climate surveys is the way people aggregate their data. For example, if you work in a plant and simply lump all your data from management and the workforce together, it’s going to be reasonably poor data. These higher-levelresults may allow management to feel good about their support but the data is rather limiting. However, if you segregate comparison data with regard to senior management, supervisors, and employee perceptions, you can begin to examine the perception gaps between groups, with lower-level data that becomes increasingly useful and actionable. If for example, management believes they are very open in receiving information and feedback from their workers regarding hazards and other concerns, but their employees don’t feel nearly the same, you have work to do in order to close that particular gap. There are times to aggregate data in collective ways, quite possibly when comparing and ranking plants or locations, but on most occasions, organizational data should not be compiled in a higher-level manner, with a view from 30,000 feet.
Make it Better…
These are just a few common mistakes that can lead to less than desirable safety data that could make huge differences in better understanding your culture for safety. This is particularly true if you are attempting to construct your own survey without the support and validation of a group of experts. Making your survey data more useful and actionable will allow you to intervene more cogently with appropriate support, improvements, training, and other distinct ways that will leave a positive impression on your safety culture. I have said it for many years, it matters what you measure and how you measure it.