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Safety culture
DEKRA Advisory & Training

Want to know more about the safety culture within your organization? Read it below.

HSE Culture Ladder for a safe working environment

How safe do you work?

A safe working environment is vital. Safety awareness and responsible behavior of your employees play an important role in this. The Safety Culture Ladder is an instrument that helps you measure the safety awareness within your organization. The experts at DEKRA provide you with professional guidance for applying the Safety Culture Ladder..

How high are you on the ladder?

With the Safety Culture Ladder you can measure the safety awareness of your employees or of the contractors or suppliers your organization works with. With the outcome of the measurement, you consciously work on improving the safety awareness and associated behavior of your employees.

The 5 steps of the Safety Culture Ladder:

5. Progressive – Security is fully integrated into all business processes
4. Proactive – Safety has a high priority and is continuously improved
3. Calculating – Safety rules are considered important
2. Reactive – Change behavior is ad hoc and short-lived
1. Pathological – “What doesn't know, what doesn't hurt”
On the ladder your organization can climb from step 1 to step 5. The safer your company operates, the higher it ranks on the ladder. In addition to guaranteeing the health and well-being of your employees, your position on the ladder shows your customers that safety in your organization really counts.

Purpose of the Safety Culture Ladder

Increasing safety awareness and promoting safe behavior: these are the goals of the Safety Culture Ladder. Besides the fact that it is mandatory in the Netherlands (see below 'Climbing higher step by step starting in 2022'), there are also major advantages related to the Safety Culture Ladder:
  • In a safe working environment, employees are less likely to drop out due to accidents or (long-term) illness;
  • You can demonstrate to your suppliers, customers and other stakeholders that you work safely and are committed to the health and safety of your employees and everyone who works for you.
  • If you can demonstrate that you work safely, you have a higher chance of winning tenders.

Climbing higher step by step starting in 2022

From January the 1st 2022, clients who have signed the Governance Code Veiligheid in de Bouw (GCVB) will include safety awareness as an obligation in tenders or contracts. This joint agreement is called: Veiligheid in Aanbesteding (ViA). Its implementation is done step by step. Did you know that reaching step 2 will be mandatory as of 2022? And step 3 as of 2024? Time to get started, if you haven't already!

Why DEKRA?

  • The safety experts at DEKRA have a lot of practical knowledge of, and experience with, the Safety Culture Ladder.
  • We assist both large organizations and SMEs.
  • We enable you to win tenders through safer working.
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