Defining and Assessing Safety Culture in High Reliability Systems

Pidgeon, N., & Oleary, M. (1994). Organizational safety culture: Implications for aviation
practice. In N. Johnson, N. McDonald, & R. Fuller (Eds.), Aviation psychology in practice
(pp. 21-43). Brookfield, VT: Ashgate.
Two theoretical models of large-scale accidents, Turner’s (1978) disaster incubation model and
Perrow’s (1984) complexity-coupling account of failures in sociotechnical systems, are
presented to illustrate why many of behavioral causes of disasters should be analyzed using a
broader perspective that takes into account the social and organizational arrangements of
sociotechnical systems. Safety culture is defined as a system of meaning, which consists of a set
of beliefs, norms, attitudes, roles and social and technical practices within an organization, which
are concerned with minimizing the exposure of individuals, both within and outside an
organization, to conditions considered to be dangerous.
The elements of a “good” safety culture are elaborated under four principle headings:
(1) Location of responsibility for safety at strategic management level,
(2) Distributed attitudes of care and concern throughout an organization,
(3) Appropriate norms and rules for handling hazards, and
(4) On-going reflection upon safety practice.
Finally, the possibility and challenges of the application of the concept of safety culture in
guiding the proactive process of institutional design for safety are discussed.
Prakasam, R. (1986). Organizational climate: Development of a questionnaire measure.
Psychological Studies, 31(1), 51-55.
Organizational climate is defined as the shared perception of employees regarding the
organizational procedures, policies, and practices. In this study, a 50-item 4-point selfadministered
climate questionnaire was developed for banks and similar institutions. 10
dimensions are covered in this measure:
(1) Conformity,
(2) Sharing in decision making,
(3) Supervision: task orientation,
(4) Supervision: people orientation,
(5) Supervision: bureaucratic orientation,
(6) Responsibility,
(7) Non-financial reward,
(8) Promotion,
(9) Team sprit,
(10) Standard.
Administration of the questionnaire to 48 employees in 4 bank branches and a retest of 44
subjects resulted in favorable item correlation and reliability data. Six out of ten climate
dimensions could effectively discriminate the high and low performing branches.
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