Introduction to Fire Safety Management

4.2
The concept of safety culture and its 
various components
4.2.1 Defi ning safety culture
In terms of safety culture, there is a range of defi nitions 
cited by public enquires and research bodies. These 
defi nitions invariably cite poor management control as a 
key factor leading directly to serious accidents or disas-
ters. For example, the absence of a safety culture is said 
to have played a major part in the nuclear reactor disas-
ter at Chernobyl in 1986.
The team in control of the reactor, being infl uenced 
by the need to complete an unusual test quickly, removed 
layer after layer of the safety controls – introduced 
to keep them safe – in order to carry out a test. This 
resulted in the reactor being operated under conditions 
which gave rise to serious instability in the reactor, result-
ing in the disaster.
The subsequent enquiry found that ‘the control team 
operated in a managerial culture that failed to discour-
age the taking of risks where other priorities intervened, 
e.g. the need to complete the test quickly’.
In order to be truly effective in the management of 
fi re or health and safety, the organisation must develop 
what has become known as a positive safety culture 
based on proactive management of safety issues.
4
Safety culture
This chapter discusses the following key 
elements: 
➤
The concept of safety culture and its vari-
ous components
➤
How to assist in the development of a posi-
tive safety culture within an organisation
➤
Factors promoting a negative culture
➤
External 
infl uences on safety standards
➤
Internal 
infl uences on safety standards
➤
Human 
factors
➤
Human 
error
➤
Affecting cultural change.

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