Organisational culture, climate & stress

Emma Wadsworth

What is organisational culture? Shared beliefs, attitudes, values, and norms of

behaviour

the way things are done around here, and the way things are understood, judged, and valued

Safety culture describes:

Shared attitudes, values and beliefs in relation to safety within an organisation

Why is safety culture important? Poor safety culture has been associated with:

Industrial disasters (Chernobyl, Columbia, Clapham Junction)

Workplace accidents & injuries

How is safety culture measured? Most often measured using an employee

“climate” survey to give a “snapshot” of current safety culture

Safety climate is a current-state reflection of underlying safety culture

What does a climate survey measure? Employee perceptions of:

Organisational commitment to safety Line management commitment to safety Supervisor’s role Personal role Workmates’ influence Competence Risk taking behaviour Obstacles to safety Reporting accidents General job satisfaction

From: HSE Climate Survey Tool

Findings from a recent study:

Safety performance

Safety culture

H&S advice

Funded by:

Participants

Two groups of workers completed safety climate questionnaires:

1752 from 33 UK firms 475 as part of a general workers sample

How much stress?

Described their job as very or extremely stressful:

Firms sample – 15%

Range – 0% to 31%

General sample – 18%

Overall – 16%

Safety culture and stress

Work stress is linked to:

Safety culture overall Specific aspects of culture including:

Management approach to safety Individual (own & others) behaviour Job satisfaction

Factors also linked to sickness absence

Safety culture & stress

0

1

2

3

Managementapproach

Jobsatisfaction

General workers

Lowstress

Highstress

0

1

2

Risk taking

Jobsatisfaction

Overall

UK firms

Lowstress

Highstress

Conclusions

Work stress is linked to organisational culture or perceptions of the way we do things round here

Work stress is also linked to other factors e.g. job demand

Perceptions vary at an individual level within organisations or sections

Implications

Improvements in one area may have significant knock-on effects

Culture

Risk taking

Line management

Job satisfaction

SupportControl Demand