Toward an effective occupational health and safety culture: A multiple stakeholder perspective

This paper uses an extensive review of the safety culture literature to identify three key themes (a) role of new employees, (b) absence of a pro-active approach, and (c) need for a 'No-blame' culture, and explores their impact on the occupational health and safety culture (OHS).

We use a qualitative study with a constructivist phenomenological approach consisting of 55 in-depth interviews with a diverse range of participants, including business owners, line managers and supervisors, OHS advisors, workers, and union representatives in Western Australia. A workplace vignette was used to elicit cultural norms derived from the participants' attitudes and beliefs, which were analyzed using NVivo software to conduct a thematic analysis to classify the interview text into specific concepts and phrases.

Findings confirm the three themes identified from our literature review and provide useful insights into the challenges faced by the participants in the implementation of safety policies.

Besides extending the occupational health and safety literature, these findings have important managerial implications in view of the evolving nature of work and workplaces.