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Qualitative Assessment Methods

Safety Culture Assessments for Gains in Safety Performance

Optimising your company’s safety culture and thereby reducing or eliminating harm to people, assets and the environment is a complex undertaking. A good starting point is a qualitative assessment that evaluates the key components of safety culture and can help point you in the right direction to make meaningful improvements.

We recognise that to truly measure safety culture a combination of assessments provides the most accurate picture. To this end, we have developed qualitative assessment methods that support our quantitative techniques and measure the things that occur within an organisation that function as markers of a healthy safety culture. These qualitative evaluations identify areas where safety culture is effective and safety performance is strong, as well as gaps and weaknesses. The results form the basis for our suggested strategies for improvement.

As important as the tools we use are the people who employ them. To provide our clients with the most accurate results possible, our team of experienced professionals, many of them psychologists and sociologists, carry out the evaluations and analyses. Here, as elsewhere, a scientific approach underpins all that we do in the name of safety.

A Range of Safety Culture Assessment Tools

Observation – this is our “boots on the ground” approach. By observing the behaviours people demonstrate and how they make decisions, e.g. what information they use, we can gain an understanding of the level of care they demonstrate towards each other, the processes/procedures they have in place, and the equipment and plant around them.
Audits – by auditing a selection of risk assessments, permits, procedures, etc. we can understand what the standards and expectations are and, in tandem with observation, can see how they are applied.
Interviews – interviews, especially with senior leaders and management, give us insight into the intentions of those who create the culture that pervades the workplace. We explore the underlying beliefs of top managers about their role in creating a culture of care. All interviews are semi-structured allowing a great depth of information to be collected.
Focus groups – to gain further insight into the reasons behind survey responses, behaviours and decision making, we conduct focus groups with a range of people from all levels of the organisation.

The results of these evaluations form the basis for our suggested strategies for improvement. With our special combination of passionate commitment and scientific rigor, we tailor our approach to each client, refining their safety culture through meaningful change and sustainable solutions.