Safety Culture is defined by the Department of Energy (DOE) in DOE G 450.4-1C, "Integrated Safety Management System Guide" as "An organization's values and behaviors modeled by its leaders and internalized by its members, which serve to make safe performance of work the overriding priority to protect the workers, public, and the environment."

WRPS strives to foster a safety culture demonstrating the attributes of leadership, worker engagement, and organizational learning. A component of safety culture is the safety conscious work environment (SCWE), where Employees feel free to raise safety concerns, both to their management and to the DOE, without fear of retaliation.

Safety Culture Focus Areas and Attributes:

Leadership

• Demonstrated safety leadership
• Risk-informed, conservative decision making
• Management engagement and time in field
• Staff recruitment, selection, retention, and development
• Open communication and ... environment free from retribution
• Clear expectations and accountability

Employee/Worker Engagement

• Personal commitment to everyone's safety
• Teamwork and mutual respect
• Participation in work planning and improvement
• Mindful of hazards and controls

 

Organizational Learning

• Credibility, trust and reporting errors and problems
• Effective resolution of reported problems
• Performance monitoring through multiple means
• Use of Industry experience
• Questioning attitude

 

For a list of safety culture resources, information about the Safety Culture Improvement Team at WRPS, and other related information, view the Safety Culture page on the WRPS intranet: ESH&Q & OPI > Organizational Performance Improvement > Safety Culture.