Safety Culture Ladder step 4

Dec 19, 2023

What does Safety Culture Ladder step 4 actually mean?

Creating a safe and comfortable working environment for employees is extremely important for an organization. It’s not just the organization, but its workforce too, that is responsible for safety awareness and safe working practices. But how do you know your organization’s level of safety awareness and how this is fostered? The Safety Culture Ladder is an effective tool with which to measure and improve safety awareness levels within your organization. This blog focuses on what step 4 of the Safety Culture Ladder actually entails.

Proactive with the Safety Culture Ladder step 4

The Safety Culture Ladder step 4 comes with the title ‘Proactive’. On this rung of the ladder, safety has a high priority within your organization. Safety is deeply ingrained at all levels of the organization. All employees are encouraged at all times to call each other to account for unsafe behaviour. In addition, employees themselves actively brainstorm measures for improving safety and how they might contribute to their implementation. The idea is for individuals throughout the organization to be forward-thinking and to take the initiative for themselves. By acting proactively, your organization is able to demonstrate its commitment to snuffing out or minimizing safety risks before they even happen. A proactive attitude begins with a safe design and ends with the safe execution of a project.

Is the Safety Culture Ladder step 4 required for your organization? 

In the Netherlands everyone has the right to a safe working environment. This is a good reason to use the Safety Culture Ladder for pursuing a safety policy within your organization. At the current time, it is not compulsory for organizations to comply with step 4 of the Safety Culture Ladder. But if you are keen to let others know of the effectiveness of your safety culture, you can demonstrate this through certification for one of the steps on the Safety Culture Ladder.

How does Safety Culture Ladder step 4 certification work?

To gain an insight into the current situation within your business, you can fill in the online questionnaire. The results of this will provide you with an indication of where your organization currently stands and what step on the Safety Culture Ladder you wish to choose. Next, call in a certification body, such as DEKRA, who will carry out an audit. The auditors will then visit the company to observe ongoing projects first-hand and conduct interviews with staff and management. If your organization meets the requirements of the relevant step, your organization will receive a certificate for that step. Recertification takes place on an annual basis. What this looks like exactly will depend on the type of certification you opt for.

Requirements and criteria per step

Leadership and involvement

Company aspect: employee involvement 
Requirement (example): (operational) employees report risks. 
Criterion (example): (operational) employees report detected risks after applying a risk assessment shortly before commencement of their work.

Policy and strategy

Organisation and contractors

Workplace and procedures

Deviations and communication

Audits and statistics

Safety Culture Ladder step 4 certification at DEKRA

Would you like to have your business certified for the Safety Culture Ladder step 4? Or is your organization already on step 3? If so, call in the help of the auditors at DEKRA. Our auditors are highly experienced and can help you demonstrate that your organization takes safety seriously. If you so wish, we can also help you reach the highest rung on the Safety Culture Ladder, step 5. 

 If you’d like to organize a training programme to help ensure work safety for your staff, DEKRA will be only too pleased to help. Many of our training programmes are specifically tailored to meet your exact needs.