Operationalising a safety culture in the management of a business entity (case study)

Abstract

Safety culture – along with quality and environmental culture – determines a positive image, competitive advantage and financial benefits. As a result, interest in this category continues to grow (CE or B certification). Safety culture can be considered from the point of view of philosophy, sociology, anthropology, economics and management as evidenced by Andrzej Chodyński’s rich compilation of terms, definitions and points of reference. The aim of the article is to look at safety culture as an object of economic accounting, thus treating safety culture as an economic category and answering the questions: can safety culture be an object of operationalisation based on the principle of dualism dominant in accounting and, therefore, can safety culture be a measurable category using the general profitability index? These issues are particularly important from the perspective of Safety First companies. The answers to the research problems posed are provided by a literature analysis, an analysis of financial documents and a case study. For the identification and valuation of safety culture, the generalised ROAH was used. The article thus resolves the measurability of safety culture and introduces, verifies and evaluates a tool grounded in accounting theory.