Report on Safety Culture Impact on Employee Behavior in HRM

This report provides a comprehensive overview of safety culture within Human Resource Management (HRM). It defines safety culture as the shared beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes towards safety in the workplace, emphasizing its importance in preventing accidents and promoting employee well-being. The report explores how a positive safety culture, supported by management commitment, effective communication, and regular inspections, can significantly improve employee behavior by fostering a sense of responsibility and adherence to safety rules. It highlights the negative consequences of a poor safety culture, including increased accidents, financial implications, and reputational damage. Furthermore, the report emphasizes the link between safety culture and employee behavior, explaining how a safe and healthy work environment encourages employees to comply with safety regulations and perform their tasks securely. The report also references key academic sources to support the findings and recommendations, offering practical insights for organizations like Bruno Smallgoods to enhance their safety practices and create a safer workplace.

RUNNING HEAD: Human Resource Management
Human Resources Management

Human Resource Management 1
Table of Contents
Define the term ‘safety culture’.................................................................................................2
Explain how a safety culture can improve safety behaviours of employees..............................4
References..................................................................................................................................6

Human Resource Management 2
Define the term ‘safety culture’
According to Baron (2008), safety culture is important to the culture of the organisation
which is concerned regarding the safety of the human resources working for the organisation.
Safety culture can be explained as the procedure for ensuring the safety of the employees
conducting the tasks assigned to them at the workplace of the organisation. Safety culture can
be explained as the sum total of the beliefs, perceptions and attitude adopted by the
employees for the safety of the employees and safety of the environment of the workplace. A
positive safety culture at the workplace needs to be developed for promoting the safety of the
employees and setting safety of the employees as a priority. Every organisation needs to
comply with the safety laws formulated for the safety of the employees. Bruno Smallgoods is
focusing on safety culture for the purpose of reducing the chances of large-scale disasters
which can affect the employees and safety of the employees.
There are various risks associated with the routine tasks which are being performed by the
employees of the production department of Bruno Smallgoods. These risk factors need to be
eliminated for enhancing the safety of the employees. Safety is an important characteristic of
the corporate culture of the organisation. Developing an effective safety culture at the
workplace of the Bruno Smallgoods will need a commitment on the part of the management,
management needs to be visible, using effective communication channels and inspection on
regular intervals. Lack of a proper safety culture at the workplace can be analysed with the
help of violation of the routine procedure, decisions of management regarding the focus on
production rather than on the safety and lack of capability to meet the procedural design
formulated by the company for the safety of the employees (Uryan, 2010).
Safety culture in Bruno Smallgoods can be developed by developing a sense of responsibility
among the employees for the safety and complying with the safety rules and procedure on

Human Resource Management 3
daily basis. Employees are the most important asset of the organisation who are responsible
for conducting the operations of the organisation. Performance and productivity of the
organisation are dependent on the effectiveness of the employees of the organisation. Lack of
safety culture can result in harm to the employees, loss of effective employee base, financial
implications on the business and harm to the reputation of the business (Guldenmund, 2010).
An effective safety culture can be developed at the workplace of Bruno Smallgoods. For
meeting this objective there is a need to engage the employees in the safety culture and
management need to develop a passionate behaviour towards the safety culture. Employees
need to be aware of the role and importance of the safety culture as well as adverse impact of
non-availability of the safety culture. Support needs to be gained from the employees for
maintaining a safety culture at the workplace of Bruno Smallgoods. Management needs to
support the safety culture and motivate the employees for maintaining safety culture.
Implications of the lack of safety culture need to be discussed for the purpose of explaining
the need to develop a safety culture in Bruno Smallgoods (Zou, 2011).

Human Resource Management 4
Explain how a safety culture can improve safety behaviours of
employees
In the words of Patel (2014), safety culture and behaviour of the employees are linked with
each other. Employees need to comply with the safety culture of the safety of the employees
at the workplace. Human-related accidents may take place in the organisation which is
against the interest of the employees of the organisation. These human-related accidents
result in loss of life and excessive operational cost to the business. Safety environment plays
a vital role for the organisations which are operating in the high-risk industries. Safety culture
has the potential to create an impact on the attitude and behaviour of the employees towards
the safety at the workplace. A safety culture will help in enhancing the health and safety at
the workplace of Bruno Smallgoods.
Lack of safety culture can result in conflicts between the employees and management of the
organisation. The unsafe behaviour of the employees can be controlled with the help of
developing a safety culture at the workplace. People behave unsafely as they have never
experienced any accident due to lack of a safety culture in the organisation. Safety culture
helps in explaining the role of safety and the adverse impact of the lack of a safety culture.
Safety culture helps in changing the behaviour and attitude of the employees towards the
safety of the work environment. Safety culture promotes a healthy and safe workplace for the
employees. There is a positive relationship between the safety culture and behaviour of the
employees of the organisation towards safety. Safety culture helps in the determination of the
quality of the environment for the safety of the employees at the workplace (Landy & Conte,
2010).
Bruno Smallgoods can promote a positive attitude and behaviour among the employees of the
organisation by developing a safety culture and engaging the employees in maintaining a

Human Resource Management 5
safety culture. Safety culture helps in motivating the employees to perform the tasks assigned
to them in a safe and secure manner. Safety culture reduces the chances of accidents taking
place at the workplace which enhances the satisfaction level of the employees. This
enhancement in the satisfaction level of the employees promotes safety behaviour of the
employees. Safety culture involves promoting a safe and healthy environment which results
in a change in the behaviour of the employees towards the culture (Fogarty & Shaw, 2009).
Safety culture is an important determinant which promotes a positive attitude among the
employees. Increase in the number of accidents occurring in the workplace affects the
behaviour of the employees towards the work. Operations of the production department of
Bruno Smallgoods need to be managed in a proper manner for providing safety to the
employees. The safe and healthy environment encourages the employees to perform better
and comply with the rules and regulations formulated for maintaining a safety culture. The
commitment of the company towards developing a safety culture helps the company in
developing a feeling of belongingness among the employees (Byrne, 2010).

Human Resource Management 6
References
Baron, R. I., 2008, “Measuring safety climate at an aircraft maintenance facility: Can training
change attitudes”, Unpublished Ph.D., Capella University, Minneapolis, MN.
Byrne, B. M., 2010, “Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications,
and programming”, New York, NY: Taylor and Francis Group.
Fogarty, G. J. & Shaw, A., 2009, “Safety climate and the theory of planned behavior:
Towards the prediction of unsafe behaviour”, Accident Analysis and Prevention: 10.
Guldenmund, F. W., 2010, “(Mis)understanding Safety Culture and Its Relationship to Safety
Management”, Risk Analysis: An International Journal, Volume 30, Issue 10, pp. 1466–
1480.
Landy, F. J. & Conte, J. M., 2010, “Work in the 21st century: an introduction to industrial
and organizational psychology”, Danvers, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Patel, J. C., 2014, “Safety Culture & Behavior: A Global Challenge”, ASSE, Volume 13,
Number 2.
Uryan, Y., 2010, “Organizational Safety Culture And Individual Safety Behavior: A Case
Study Of The Turkish National Police Aviation Department”, University of Central Florida.
Zou, P. X., 2011, “Fostering a Strong Construction Safety Culture”, Leadership and
Management in Engineering, Volume 11, Issue 1.