Safety Culture Ladder step 3

Author: Patrick Brom

Oct 12, 2023Audit / Safety at work

What does step 3 of the Safety Culture Ladder entail?

Safety within companies is important, prevention is always better than cure. But how do you map out your organization's safety awareness? The Safety Culture Ladder is a perfect tool for that. The Safety Culture Ladder has five steps. In this blog, we zoom in on step 3 of the Safety Culture Ladder. What does Safety Culture Ladder Step 3 mean? Is it mandatory to comply with Safety Culture Ladder Step 3? And how can you get certified for it? We also give examples of the requirements and criteria that auditors use for certification.

About the Safety Culture Ladder step 3

Step 3 of the Safety Culture Ladder is defined as ‘Calculating - Safety rules are considered important'. If your company is in compliance with this SCL step, it will have determined which safety rules are important. Companies that comply with Safety Culture Ladder step 3 take responsibility but are also driven by self-interest. ‘What’s in it for me?’. Involvement in safety and compliance with rules and laws is mainly the task of (senior) management. The departments below have little to no involvement in the ‘safety’ theme.

Is the Safety Culture Ladder step 3 mandatory?

In the construction industry, working with the Safety Culture Ladder step 2 is mandatory since Jan. 1, 2022, for companies that have signed the Governance Code of Safety in Construction (GCVB). This is understandable because construction has high safety risks. Yet the Safety Culture Ladder is designed to be applicable to any organization. With a Safety Culture Ladder audit, any organization can get serious about safety.

Currently, it is not mandatory for any company to meet Safety Culture Ladder step 3. As of July 1, 2026, this will change for companies that have signed the Governance Code Safety in Construction (GCVB). Then these companies, which compete for tenders in construction, must be able to demonstrate that they comply with Safety Culture Ladder step 3. Other companies do not have to comply with Safety Culture Ladder step 3 or any other step. DEKRA will be happy to assist you with safety Safety Culture Ladder step 3 certification. Contact one of our experts.

How does the certification of Safety Culture Ladder step 3 work?

If you decide to have your company certified against step 3 of the Safety Culture Ladder, you will be able to choose between two variants: SCL Original and SCL. A certificate is issued for each of them.

There are another two variants to choose from, but you will not be issued with a certificate for either of them. These two variants are SCL Light and Approved Self Assessment. Instead you will receive a statement or document.

You can use the SAQ online questionnaire to gain an idea of the current situation in your company. The results of this self-assessment will help identify your current situation and also which step is the best for you to aim for. Once you have made this decision, you will be ready to choose a certification body (CB) to conduct an audit, like DEKRA, for example. During this audit, a number of observing project visits and interviews will take place with employees and management. If successful, you will receive a certificate for the step your company meets. Your company will then be recertified after one year. What this involves will depend on the variant you choose.

Download Safety Culture Ladder whitepaper

This toolkit explains exactly what the SCL entails, describes the different routes to certification, and provides insight into what preparations your organization can make.

Requirements and criteria per step

Company aspect: employee involvement 
Requirement (example): (operational) employees report risks. 
Criterion (example): (operational) employees report detected risks after applying a risk assessment shortly before commencement of their work.

Company aspect: profitability and continuity 
Requirement (example): the Board makes a budget available for H&S.
Criterion (example): management has reserved a budget for the H&S activities included in the year plan.

Company aspect: contractors 
Requirement (example): management subjects contractors to a formal selection procedure in which H&S is integrated. 
Criterion (example): management selects contractors on the basis of a formal selection procedure.

Company aspect: workplace safety 
Requirement (example): management regularly assesses the work environment in terms of H&S. 
Criterion (example): management assesses projects various criteria including tidiness of the work environment, implementation, measures and the consistent application of measures resulting from earlier risk analysis.

Company aspect: reporting of incidents 
Requirement (example): management reports all accidents. 
Criterion (example): management reports and registers all accidents and process disruptions.

Company aspect: audits and reviews 
Requirement (example): management has laid down the H&S competences of behavioural auditors.
Criterion (example): management has laid down the H&S competences of auditors in terms of background, education, training and experience.

What steps of the Safety Culture Ladder are there?

The Safety Culture Ladder is managed by NEN, the Royal Netherlands Standardization Institute. The Safety Culture Ladder lets you protect the health and well-being of your employees. Furthermore, your organization shows that it really pays attention to safety. The Safety Culture Ladder features five steps:

Safety Culture Ladder step 5: Progressive
Safety is integrated fully into all business processes.
Safety Culture Ladder step 4: Proactive
Safety is a high priority and is improved continuously.
Safety Culture Ladder step 3: Calculating
Safety rules are considered important.
Safety Culture Ladder step 2: Reactive
Safety is not a priority and only plays a role when something goes wrong.
Safety Culture Ladder step 1: Pathological
Safety is not on the organization’s agenda.

Organizations can progress from Step 1 to 5 and determine the step at which they want to start. So they decide how high to set the bar. The more safely a company operates, the higher its position on the ladder. And the higher the position on the ladder, the higher their advantage in tenders will be.

DEKRA for certification Safety Culture Ladder step 3

Would you like to have your company certified for the Safety Culture Ladder Step 3? Then you can always rely on DEKRA. Request a quote via the button below. Our experienced auditors will be happy to get to work for you. They will help you demonstrate that you take safety seriously. You may even progress to steps 4 and 5 in the future. For questions, please contact one of our experts below.

Where can you find more information about the Safety Culture Ladder at DEKRA?

DEKRA provides audits for companies to be certified against the Safety Culture Ladder. Learn more about the Safety Culture Ladder and how we can support you.