Introduction to Fire Safety Management

4.7
Internal infl uences on safety culture
In addition to those forces that are outside an organ-
isation there are obviously huge infl uences within an 
organisation that do have a signifi cant impact upon the 
development and maintenance of the safety culture.
4.7.1 Management 
commitment
Perhaps the most singular and most important infl uence 
on an organisation’s safety culture is the visible com-
mitment of all managers and in particular senior man-
agement. A visibly committed management has two 
signifi cant impacts. First, a genuine commitment to safety 
management will result in effective risk assessment and 
risk control systems. Second, when management rou-
tinely demonstrate their commitment by their behaviour 
at work, they will induce similar behaviour among their 
employees.

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Introduction to Fire Safety Management
74
The culture of an organisation is sometimes 
described as ‘the way we do things around here’.
In general people at work will want to conform to 
‘the way things are done’. When management reinforce 
the importance of risk control systems by, for example, 
always wearing personal protective equipment when 
necessary, employees will understand that conforming to 
safety rules is ‘how things are done’. A management that 
fails to visibly demonstrate their commitment to safety 
will send mixed and confused messages if they attempt 
to introduce safety measures which they themselves do 
not comply with.
Management can demonstrate their commitment 
to safety in the workplace through a variety of means 
including:
➤
Providing clear and workable policies
➤
Allocating suffi cient resources including time for 
safety matters
➤
Complying with all the safety rules in the workplace
➤
Attending safety committee meetings
➤
Responding positively to safety events and the 
safety concerns of the workforce
➤
Taking part in safety tours of the workplace
➤
Dealing effectively with non-compliance to safety 
rules.
The need for commitment at senior levels is ongoing. All 
too often safety procedures fall into disuse because of 
management neglect or due to other business pressures 
taking precedence such as, for example, setting unrea-
sonable production or fi nancial targets.