Safety Culture Ladder step 4

Author: Kevin Klijn

Dec 19, 2023Audit / Safety at work

What does Safety Culture Ladder step 4 actually mean?

Creating a safe and comfortable working environment for employees is extremely important for an organization. It’s not just the organization, but its workforce too, that is responsible for safety awareness and safe working practices. But how do you know your organization’s level of safety awareness and how this is fostered? The Safety Culture Ladder is an effective tool with which to measure and improve safety awareness levels within your organization. This blog focuses on what step 4 of the Safety Culture Ladder actually entails.

Proactive with the Safety Culture Ladder step 4

The Safety Culture Ladder step 4 comes with the title ‘Proactive’. On this rung of the ladder, safety has a high priority within your organization. Safety is deeply ingrained at all levels of the organization with step 4 of the Safety Culture Ladder. All employees are encouraged at all times to call each other to account for unsafe behaviour. In addition, employees themselves actively brainstorm measures for improving safety and how they might contribute to their implementation. The idea of Safety Culture Ladder step 4 is for individuals throughout the organization to be forward-thinking and to take the initiative for themselves. By acting proactively, your organization is able to demonstrate its commitment to snuffing out or minimizing safety risks before they even happen. A proactive attitude with Safety Culture Ladder step 4 begins with a safe design and ends with the safe execution of a project.

Is the Safety Culture Ladder step 4 required for your organization? 

In the Netherlands everyone has the right to a safe working environment. This is a good reason to use the Safety Culture Ladder for pursuing a safety policy within your organization. At the current time, it is not compulsory for organizations to comply with step 4 of the Safety Culture Ladder. But if you are keen to let others know of the effectiveness of your safety culture, then you can demonstrate this through certification of steps on the Safety Culture Ladder, such as Safety Culture Ladder step 4.

How does Safety Culture Ladder step 4 certification work?

To gain an insight into the current situation within your business, you can fill in the online questionnaire. The results of this will provide you with an indication of where your organization currently stands and what step on the Safety Culture Ladder you wish to choose. Next, call in a certification body, such as DEKRA, who will carry out an audit. The auditors will then visit the company to observe ongoing projects first-hand and conduct interviews with staff and management. If your organization meets the requirements of the relevant step, your organization will receive a certificate for that step. Recertification takes place on an annual basis. What this looks like exactly will depend on the type of certification you opt for.

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.

Safety Culture Ladder step 4 certification at DEKRA

Would you like to have your business certified for the Safety Culture Ladder step 4? Or is your organization already on step 3? If so, call in the help of the auditors at DEKRA. Our auditors are highly experienced and can help you demonstrate that your organization takes safety seriously with Safety Culture Ladder step 4. If you so wish, we can also help you reach the highest rung on the Safety Culture Ladder, step 5.

 If you’d like to organize a training programme to help ensure work safety for your staff, DEKRA will be only too pleased to help. Many of our training programmes are specifically tailored to meet your exact needs.

Do you have a question? Get in touch with one of our experts

Kevin Klijn

+31 889683226
kevin.klijn@dekra.com

Get in touch

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.

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