& 
Safety culture is the shared values, attitudes and behaviours that decide how safety is really done in an organisation. A widely used definition, adopted by HSE, describes it as the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies and patterns of behaviour that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organisation’s health and safety management.
Put simply, it is what happens when the manager is not on site.
What a positive safety culture looks like
- Leaders who visibly prioritise safety, including when it costs time or money
- Workers who feel able to stop a job and raise concerns without blame
- Near misses reported and acted on, not hidden
- People involved in planning their own work and risk assessments
- Learning from incidents rather than looking for someone to blame
- Consistency between what is said and what is rewarded
The Swiss cheese model
Professor James Reason’s Swiss cheese model shows an organisation’s defences as slices of cheese, each with holes. Holes are weaknesses such as poor design, missing training, time pressure or unclear procedures. Most of the time the slices stop a hazard getting through. An accident happens when the holes line up. The lesson is that accidents usually have several causes, many of them in management and organisation rather than the person at the sharp end.
Human factors: errors and violations
| Type | What it is | Example | How to reduce it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slip or lapse | Doing the wrong thing by accident, or forgetting a step | Pressing the wrong button, missing a check | Better design, checklists, reducing distraction and fatigue |
| Mistake | Doing the wrong thing believing it is right | Misreading a situation, using the wrong method | Training, clear information, supervision |
| Violation | Deliberately breaking a rule | Removing a guard to save time | Find out why: unworkable rules, time pressure, poor supervision, and fix the cause |
HSE’s guidance HSG48, Reducing error and influencing behaviour, explains how job design, people and organisation all shape behaviour.
Safety culture maturity
Many organisations use maturity models to describe their culture, moving from reactive, where safety is driven by compliance and incidents, through dependent and independent stages, to interdependent, where everyone takes responsibility for each other. The value is less in the label and more in the conversation it starts.
How to measure it
- Safety climate surveys, asking workers what they really think
- Leading indicators such as near miss reports, safety conversations and actions closed
- Observations and walkarounds by leaders
- Focus groups and exit interviews
- Lagging indicators such as injuries, used with care because a low number can hide under-reporting
Practical steps for leaders
- Go and see: walk the floor or site regularly and ask open questions.
- Respond well to bad news, and thank people for raising concerns.
- Fix the things workers tell you about, and tell them you have.
- Involve workers in risk assessments, RAMS and toolbox talks.
- Make sure targets and incentives do not reward hiding incidents.
- Investigate incidents for causes, not culprits. Our accident investigation guide shows how.
Training that helps
The NEBOSH HSE Certificate in Health and Safety Leadership Excellence is built around leading a positive safety culture, and IOSH Leading Safely is a one day course for senior leaders and directors. The NEBOSH National General Certificate covers human factors and culture as part of managing health and safety.
Frequently asked questions
What is safety culture?
The shared values, attitudes and behaviours that determine how health and safety is managed and practised in an organisation.
What is the Swiss cheese model?
James Reason’s model showing an organisation’s defences as slices of cheese with holes. Accidents happen when weaknesses in several layers line up.
What is the difference between an error and a violation?
An error is unintentional, such as a slip or a mistake. A violation is a deliberate breach of a rule, often driven by pressures that the organisation can fix.
How can you improve safety culture?
Through visible leadership, involving workers, acting on concerns, learning from incidents and making sure incentives support safe behaviour.
Read the source
HSE guidance HSG48, Reducing error and influencing behaviour; HSE guidance HSG65; the ACSNI Human Factors Study Group third report (1993) definition of safety culture; and James Reason, Human Error (1990) and Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents (1997). Facts checked on 6 October 2026.
Upcoming Leadership & Supervision dates
Straight from the booking system, so this block is never out of date.
Prices exclude VAT. Dates and places update automatically.
