ASSESSING SAFETY CULTURE

The concept of safely culture developed in the after-math of the Chernobyl disaster. Researchers, however, have known for many years that safety performance is affected by an organization's socially transmitted beliefs and attitudes toward safety. The safety culture of an organization is very complex and hard to study, but it is possible to examine norms that make up the culture. A written survey instrument was developed to examine the safety culture of EG&G Idaho, Inc., a Department of Energy (DOE) Contractor at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). This instrument was developed by determining safety norms of the organization and then developing statements that reflect those norms for inclusion in the survey instrument. The survey instrument was used by DOE to assess the safety culture at INEL. Statistical tests on the data from the survey showed that the instrument had good internal consistency. The survey instrument, which is included in the article, appears to have merit for use by non-INEL organizations. This article also discusses how the survey should be administered and how the results can be used to help improve the safety culture of an organization.