Defining and Assessing Safety Culture in High Reliability Systems

Meyer, J. (1994). Beyond reason: How to conduct an investigation of organizational and
national culture. International Society for Air Safety Investigations, 27(5), 107-118.
A method of conducting investigations of organizational and national culture from a Human
Factors perspective was presented in this paper. Human factors were defined by incorporating
the Reason and SHEL models. Different from technical investigation, human factors are
cumulative, not necessarily observable, using qualitative research methods and content analysis.
The format of data collection, analysis, and reporting for airline industry are given. A Forman for
Individual Human Factors Analysis, Total Situational Awareness for Flight Deck Crew, and
Total Situational Awareness for Air Traffic Control are used to collecting data. Content Analysis
Coding Form, and Analysis of Organization Culture are used to analyze the data. A Form for
Discussion and Analysis of Human Factors is developed for reporting the results.
Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck identified six questions to define different culture, which are what the
perception is of
(1) human nature,
(2) relationship between humans and nature,
(3) time,
(4) activity,
(5) relationship between humans, and
(6) space.
These questions are incorporated into the situational awareness forms.
The Analysis of Organization Culture identifies 10 important aspects for classifying organization
cultures:
(1) how the organization’s resources are used,
(2) structure of the organization,
(3) measurement systems for safety and safety accountability,
(4) reward systems,
(5) selection and development systems,
(6) response pattern to conflict and problems,
(7) reporting system and feedback system,
(8) organizational norms (shared sayings, doings, feelings, etc.),
(9) organizational policies and procedures compared with other similar organizations,
(10) vision/mission.
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