Director of CIRAS Catherine Baker shares her thoughts on the role of safety reporting in building a fair culture.

Integrity, honesty, ethics and respect representing business culture on wooden blocks, with a hand holding the block representing ethics.

Small things, everyday interactions. That’s what shapes culture. It takes time to build, but inconsistent action can destroy it in a moment.

At its core, a fair culture means an environment in which the organisation treats people consistently, transparently and respectfully when things go wrong or they raise concerns about things that could go wrong. It balances accountability with learning and is sometimes called Just Culture. 

Recently, the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) published a good practice guide to creating a fair culture. It is filled with practical suggestions on the steps to take and is freely available on the RSSB website (use the same login details as for the CIRAS website), so do take a look.

Here at CIRAS, we see that many of our member organisations work hard at creating the sort of culture in which all their people feel listened to and take observations from the frontline as opportunities for improvement. So, how can an organisation support this culture with its safety reporting arrangements?

Promote reporting channels

Genuine signalling from the top that an organisation is open to hearing concerns from its people is important. This includes clarity that a range of reporting channels are available for people to use, including those such as CIRAS that protect the reporter’s identity if someone doesn’t feel able to speak up openly. In practical terms, reporting channels are visibly advertised within internal communications, such as posters, intranet, staff newsletters, company inductions and site briefings.

Make a confidential reporting channel available

Offering a confidential reporting channel is an important way to show that you really want to hear safety insights from your people, however they choose to raise them. Encouraging its use by those who feel unable to report openly through internal channels is a great opportunity to prove the intent of a just culture. Really listening to safety information from any source and providing prompt feedback on any investigation or action can encourage more people to speak up. It can also build trust that raising things through internal channels will be received positively.

Leaders listen

Listening with curiosity and intent to learn takes both time and a willingness to hear things that may lead to added work or changes to working practice. Both can be tough for managers faced with operational demands. 

One of the main reasons reporters tell us they turn to CIRAS is that they don’t feel listened to through internal channels. Taking the time to really listen is an incredibly powerful positive signal for a fair culture; people feel their voice matters. By comparison, it only takes one manager who is dismissive or gives off signals that they are always too busy to create inconsistency and undermine any messaging from the top about moves to a fair culture.

Take action and give feedback 

Timely investigation, action where needed, and giving feedback to the person raising a concern are critical to building trust in a reporting process. They also help prevent the inefficiencies of repeat reports. 

Many reporters who turn to CIRAS tell us they tried to raise concerns internally, but they went into a black hole. Sometimes nothing happened in response, but often the reason is that nobody told the reporter about the changes made, so they were left in the dark. Reporters know that when they raise a concern through CIRAS they will always get feedback on what the company has done because of the information shared. 

Whatever channel is used, taking action and then closing the feedback loop will reinforce the message that the organisation means what it says about a fair culture.

Use storytelling 

Transparently sharing examples of someone raising a concern or idea that led to actions that improved safety demonstrates fair culture powerfully. It signals an openness to listen and a willingness to learn, change and improve. It can encourage others to raise concerns that they have kept quiet. It also signals to managers that listening and action is positively received. 

Wherever you are on the journey to a fair culture, CIRAS is here to play our part in helping to create a transport system where health, wellbeing and safety concerns raised by staff are used as a valuable source of improvements.

Find out more

Reach out to your CIRAS stakeholder manager if you’d like to learn more about how CIRAS can be your listening partner and the benefits of CIRAS membership.

Good practice guide to creating a fair culture [RSSB website]

Research investigates the reporting gap and barriers to reporting

How confidential reporting helps build a mature safety culture

Talking reports: Southeastern’s train dispatching concern and its Fair Culture Charter

KeolisAmey Docklands: Embracing a learning culture improves safety

Tram Operations Ltd (TOL): Building a just culture

Listening is human: why people raise concerns in confidence