Creating a Culture of Reporting and Support

Creating a Culture of Reporting and Support

You need a safe reporting culture and a proactive improvement culture if you want to adopt a structural approach to improving safety and quality within your organization. It is a culture in which everyone is alert to potential risks and in which, in an atmosphere of openness, people are actively engaged in safely reporting incidents. It is an environment in which unsafe situations in processes are easily addressed and improved.

Based on the points listed below we will explain how you can work towards a safe reporting culture and a proactive improvement culture.

  1. Conditions for improving the reporting culture
  2. Further explanation of a Just Culture
  3. Create awareness with the safety culture ladder
  4. Support for improvement actions
  5. Safety II as a new approach to improvement

 

Conditions for improving the workplace culture

 

In order to learn from incidents, it is important that all incidents and near incidents are reported. Unfortunately, reporting an incident is still often considered an administrative burden that is difficult and redundant. So how do you still ensure a good reporting culture? Below we provide some framework conditions:

  • Ensure a safe and open reporting culture: Just Culture. See below for further explanation of the importance of a Just Culture in your organization;
  • Make it clear why incidents need to be reported. After all, each incident is a learning opportunity and an opportunity to improve safety in the work place;
  • Make reporting quick and easy with an online form that is always accessible via both desktop and mobile devices. Ensure that only those questions are asked that are required for the initial registration and analysis;
  • Show what happens after a report has been made, what the follow-up actions are, who is involved and what is expected of the notifying person;
  • Ensure feedback of the results to the notifying person and the rest of the department. When people see that a report is actually addressed, the willingness to report will increase. Also show when an improvement action is scheduled based on the incident;
  • Involve employees by requesting further information and having them contribute ideas for improvement actions and the assessment thereof.
  • Start by Establishing Values
  • Incentivize the right actions. Look at your incentives and what people are praised for.
  • Foster trust and psychological safety. Create a results-based culture that fosters trust and psychological safety.
  • Create a System for Giving Praise to Peers. Create a system for your team to publicly praise other team members.
  • Align KPIs to Promote Support.
  • Establish a Better Work-Life Balance.
  • Model the Right Tone.
  • Focus on Empathy and Communication.

Credits to: