Improving Self-Escape from Underground Coal Mines (2013) / Chapter Skim
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5 Safety Culture
5 Safety Culture
Pages 85-94
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From page 85... ...
Actions within this domain generally follow the traditional hazard control hierarchy, which places primary emphasis on eliminating or controlling hazards in the work environment. Given the potentially catastrophic consequences of underground coal mine fires and explosions, priority should be placed on prevention through the use of redundant controls or what is sometimes referred to as defenses in depth (Rasmussen, 1997; Reason, 1997; Saleh and Cummings, 2011)
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From page 86... ...
It also affects how the organization embraces and utilizes available hazard control technologies (i.e., operational hardware) and implements specific safety-related policies and procedures to minimize risks and maximize safety performance (operational software)
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From page 87... ...
In a negative safety culture, safety has a relatively low priority and is often most likely to receive attention only after some type of adverse event has occurred. Such organizations frequently cut corners when it comes to safety and seek quick and inexpensive solutions.
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From page 88... ...
. in safety that extends beyond controlling or mitigating untoward events and includes actively anticipating and planning for them (Roberts, 1990; LaPorte, 1996; Rochlin, 1999)
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From page 89... ...
195) emphasizes the importance of "creating a safety information system that collects, analyses, and disseminates information from incidents and near-misses as well as from regular proactive checks on the system's vital signs." He also argues for the importance of free and open communication, especially the freedom to report safety problems without fear of blame or retribution.
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From page 90... ...
A group culture of risk acceptance within an organization can influence safe work practices and operational safety and even discourage acceptance and adoption of available safety technologies. Unsafe working conditions, a culture that does not put safety first, and other systems-level malfunctions may predate an immediate emergency.
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From page 91... ...
The holes within each level represent weaknesses at different stages of the system and vary in size and position. The system as a whole fails when latent failures at the organizational and managerial levels line up with local failures and poor preconditions, allowing for (in Reason's words)
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From page 92... ...
Integrating safe practices into all activities will help to mitigate potential emergencies that might necessitate self-escape and will help ensure the optimal self-escape practices once it is determined that a mining emergency has occurred and miners have to travel to a place of safety. Such practices of organizations with successful safety records include Safety Culture: Creating a strong, positive safety culture that pervades an entire organization begins with senior management through actions more than words.
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From page 93... ...
RECOMMENDATIONS A safety culture forms the organizational context in which all safetyrelated actions take place. It provides the subtle and sometimes not so subtle cues about the importance of safety, the safety-related behaviors that are expected, the resources available to support safety, and the steps taken to identify, eliminate, or control hazards.
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From page 94... ...
Such information would provide a useful resource that mine stakeholders could use to examine their own safety cultures and identify strengths and weaknesses specific to their organizations. B. NIOSH should expand its safety culture research efforts to include a larger and more generalizable sample of mining organizations as well as to examine linkages between cultural attributes and safety performance, ideally using longitudinal data on safe work practices and accident and injury outcomes.
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