Safety Culture: The Buzzword to Ensure Occupational Safety and Health

Corporate safety culture has been considered as a contributory factor in accidents by many industrial accident investigations, and it is now generally accepted that organizations with a strong safety culture are more effective in preventing workplace accidents and injuries. Occupational safety and health (OSH) practitioners or advisers are an integral part of effective risk management systems and also have a significant role to play in improving health and safety at work. The prevention of work-related injury and illness is of crucial importance to employees, industry and wider society. Corporate safety culture, which describes shared values within an organization which influence its members‟ attitudes, values and beliefs in relation to safety, is now generally accepted as having a strong influence over workplace accidents and injuries. Occupational safety and health (OSH) practitioners or advisers also have a significant role to play in improving health and safety at work, yet little is known about their specific contribution to safety performance. The aim of this study, therefore, was to assess and compare the relative contributions of corporate safety culture and competent OSH advice to safety performance.