Developing & Sustaining an Effective Safety Culture

Introduction

This Developing and Sustaining an Effective Safety Culture training course equips participants to assess the attitudes, behaviours and management practices that shape safety performance. An effective safety culture depends on more than written procedures: leaders must set clear expectations, employees must understand their responsibilities, and the organisation must respond constructively to risks and incidents. Participants will examine how leadership, communication and safety management systems work together to support consistent decisions across the workforce.

The training course then moves from assessment to action. Participants will use the HSE Cultural Change Model, behavioural safety concepts and practical measures to identify improvement opportunities. They will consider why well-designed safety systems can fail, how human factors influence behaviour, and which interventions are likely to produce lasting change. By the end of the course, participants will have a structured approach to strengthening safety culture within their own organisation.

This GLOMACS training course will highlight:

• The relationship between safety culture, leadership and safety performance
• The role of safety management systems in supporting safe behaviour
• Methods for assessing culture using the HSE Cultural Change Model
• The influence of human factors on decisions and actions
• Practical steps for implementing and sustaining cultural change

Objectives

At the end of this training course, participants will be able to:

• Explain how leadership and organisational practices influence safety culture
• Assess the contribution of a safety management system to safety performance
• Identify behavioural and human factors associated with incidents
• Use evidence and feedback to assess the current safety culture
• Select interventions that address barriers to safer behaviour
• Develop a practical safety culture improvement plan with measurable indicators

Training Methodology

Participants will examine practical examples, apply assessment tools and discuss challenges drawn from organisational experience. The course uses case studies and guided exercises to connect safety culture concepts with decisions that managers and HSE professionals make at work. Participants will develop an improvement plan relevant to their own organisation.

Organisational Impact

An organisation that strengthens its safety culture can benefit from:

• Clearer leadership accountability for safety
• More effective safety communication
• Better identification of behavioural risks
• Stronger use of safety management systems
• More informed responses to incidents
• Measurable progress in safety performance

Personal Impact

Participants will strengthen their ability to:

• Assess the organisation’s current safety culture
• Recognise how human factors affect behaviour
• Identify weaknesses in safety practices and systems
• Engage colleagues in constructive safety discussions
• Prioritise realistic cultural improvements 
• Measure and sustain progress