Cultural context of the safety culture: A conceptual model and experimental study

The two general components of the safety culture are ''the necessary framework within an organization and the attitude of staff at all different levels in responding to and benefiting from the framework.'' Also, the requirements from individual employees for achieving safety culture at installations are ''a questioning attitude, a rigorous and prudent approach and necessary communication.'' Recent studies have highlighted the critical role of culture factors in the safety of nuclear power plants. This paper contends that an organization's safety culture, as a system composed of behaviors, practices, policies, and structural components, cannot flourish or succeed without interactions and harmony with its environment - the social or national culture. In other words, safety culture should be considered in the context of national culture. All dimensions of national culture, (Power, Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism Collectivism, and Masculinity-Femininity), while interacting with foregoing general components and requirements, could either resonate with and strengthen or attenuate the safety culture. Questioning attitude (of operators) is greatly influenced by the power distance, rule orientation and uncertainty avoidance of the societal environment, and the openness in the organizational culture of the plant. A rigourous and prudent approach is moderated by power distance and uncertainty avoidance in the culture; and a definite organizational system at the plant. Communication is a function of all the dimensions of national culture as well as the organizational structure's hierarchy and rigidity. Thus, it is concluded that the necessary conditions for creating and nourishing safety culture in a nuclear installation include (but are not limited to): 1 - A thorough understanding of the dimensions of the local national culture; 2 - determination of the extent of their match with those of organizational culture of the installation; and 3 - their compatibility with the prescribed requirements for safety culture.