Abstract
There is considerable evidence that safety culture and safety climate can be used to discriminate between organizations that manage safety well and those that do not. The role of management may be particularly crucial when ambiguities exist regarding exactly who should have, and who does have influence on safety culture. One such example is the complex relationship between the contractor and client. Who should have the primary influence on the contractor's HSE culture -the contracting company who has a duty of care for its employees or the client who operates and is responsible for the working environment within which the contractors work? This paper presents the initial findings from a large-scale research project conducted with a global engineering and construction organization. The project used three main data collection techniques to arrive at a triangulated assessment of HS&E culture in 18 worksites worldwide (Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, West Africa). The data collection techniques were: (i) a questionnaire about personal values, cultural norms, and safety climate which was administered to workforce members; (ii) structured interviews regarding HS&E culture and safety management systems which were conducted with project management teams and senior management, and (iii) an independent ‘show me’ audit of the safety management system in operation. Data were collected using these three techniques at all 18 worksites. A strong finding from the project was that the contractor's workforce and project management teams both consistently believed that the client's managers and systems had more of an impact on the safety culture of the contracting company than the contractor's senior managers and HS&E systems. The audits verified this in the majority of cases and the results were evident across cultures and clients.
