Background:
Three key drivers of safety within organisations are equipment,
plant and infrastructure; safety systems; and the cultural
environment. Cultural factors have been implicated as causal
variables in most of the major rail accidents in
Australia.
Objective:
The broad aim of this project is to build a best practice model
for safety culture management within the rail environment through
the evaluation and development safety cultural metrics and
the development of new techniques for the dissemination of cultural
information.
Project scope:
The project will examine safety culture and will not extend
beyond that to the broader concept of organisational culture.
The focus includes supporting the evaluation of the Rail Safety
Standards Board’s safety culture tool, developing other
tools, delivering training, and creating a framework that
integrates lessons from the two case studies to build a best
practice model of safety culture management.
Benefits:
This project will deliver a set of improvements in the
management of safety culture. The best practice model and
tools (components) of that model are potentially transferable
across transportation modes. Improvements in this area have
the potential to provide significant financial and practical
benefits to the rail industry as a whole by minimising the risk
associated with poor or sub-optimal safety cultures.
Expected outcomes:
This project will provide a road-map for any Australian rail
organisation (regardless of the sophistication of their safety
culture management) and therefore promote consistency across the
industry. Importantly, the model and ‘road-map’
will allow for sufficient customisation to meet the individual
requirements of each organisation.
Project timeframe:
3 years
Project
Chair:
Phil Sochon, Deputy CEO and Manager Government Relations,
Australasian Railway Association
Project
Leader:
Dr Benjamin Brooks, Program Director, OHS Management, University
of South Australia
Tel: 0407 607 976
Email: Benjamin.brooks@unisa.edu.au
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