Is the prevention of injury and harm to employees a core value of your organisation or is it a generally held belief that most accidents are unavoidable and most frontline staff are uninterested in safety? Your answer will tell you if your company has or has not reached safe maturity, whereby the health and safety of your workforce is fundamental.
The notion of safety culture maturity and how to measure it was researched by the Health and Safety Executive with The Keil Centre. A five-level system was devised, the Safety Culture Maturity Model (SCMM), to identify specific actions for organisations to improve the safety culture in the workplace. The premise of the model is that as companies escalate through the safety maturity levels, there’s a reduction in incident rates, increasing trust and accountability, higher expectations, heightened pride, and more integration and ownership of health and safety. How can organisations use the model to judge their safety maturity?
Level 1: Emerging
At Level 1, safety is defined in terms of regulatory compliance and procedural solutions. The attitude of Level 1 organisations is that many accidents are unavoidable and most frontline staff are uninterested in safety. Behavioural safety approaches can help these organisations open up positive discussions about safety in the workplace and provide leadership teams, as well as health and safety managers, with a framework to make improvements.
Level 2: Managing
At Level 2, an organisation’s accident rate is average for their sector, but they may have more serious accidents. In Level 2 organisations, managers perceive that the majority of accidents are caused by the unsafe behaviour of frontline staff. Senior management in Level 2 businesses are purely reactive in their health and safety management. To progress their safety maturity, these organisations should take steps to improve workplace safety.
Level 3: Involving
Organisations operating at Level 3 have managers who recognise that a range of factors cause accidents and root causes can often come from management decisions. There are systems in place to manage hazards. In these organisations, there’s a desire from frontline staff to work with management to improve health and safety, with employees accepting personal responsibility for their own health safety. In Level 3 organisations, safety performance is monitored and analysed.
Level 4: Cooperating
At Level 4, an organisation believes health and safety is vital from both a moral and an economic standpoint. Significant effort is put into proactive safety measures, and performance deeply analysed. A key differentiator between Level 3 and 4 analysis is that organisations include employees’ non-work accidents and monitor healthy lifestyles too.
Level 5: Continuous Improvement
Level 5 organisations see the prevention of injury and harm to employees as a core company value – and this extends to their homes too. These organisations go for years without recordable accidents, but there is no complacency despite this track record. Level 5 organisations continually strive to improve and find better ways of controlling hazards. Every employee believes that health and safety is crucial, and their employer also invests in their health and safety at home too.
At all levels of safety maturity, equipping staff with the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is imperative. Contego Safety Solutions stocks a vast range of protective clothing, PPE and corporate wear, including our very own WEARMASTER® range. The friendly and expert team at Contego Safety Solutions is always on hand to give advice and guidance on the right PPE and protective clothing for your needs. Contact us now on 0800 122 3323 or sales@contegosafety.co.uk to discuss your requirements.
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