Several assessment tools have been developed to help assess safety culture: questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, observations, and document assessment. No one tool is completely valid; therefore, to effectively assess safety culture, it is suggested that all of these tools be used jointly. These assessment methods can be categorized into three main groups: interviews, focus groups and questionnaires ascertain information on employees’ attitudes, values, and perceptions. Observation can give information on safety actions in which the members of the organization partake. Lastly, document analysis can provide information on the outcomes of the organizational culture. If it is not feasible to use all of the assessment tools, then one tool representing each category should be used to gain an accurate safety culture assessment.

Questionnaires (see domain-specific tools below)

            Safety culture questionnaires assess the attitudes, values, and perceptions of employees regarding their organization’s safety culture. Self-completion questionnaires are the easiest, least expensive, and the most commonly used assessment tool. However, their usefulness is limited as they assess an organization’s safety climate rather than safety culture. Therefore, they can provide only a snapshot of the tangible aspects of an organization’s safety culture. Although this information can be valuable, it does not give a complete view of the organizational culture.

Interviews

            Interviews are a good method for gaining information on experiences and personal practices pertaining to safety culture as well as detailed information on how participants view and interpret safety within their organization. There is no standard practice when it comes to performing an interview; however, safety culture interviews are typically semi-structured and consist of open ended questions.

Focus Groups

            Focus groups are a flexible way to gain information on a specific target group’s perceptions, values, and opinions of safety culture. Focus groups can also be used to brainstorm and come up with solutions to safety issues within an organization. Small groups of people tend to work best when creating a focus group.

Observation

            Observation is a useful way to find out what actions and activities are actually taking place within the workplace (e.g., employees’ accepted safety practices). Observation generally takes a good amount of planning in order to be effective and can be costly. It can also be biased if the individuals being observed know that they are being observed.

Document Analysis

            Document analysis is an effective way to track a safety record, examine previous incidents and get a baseline for where an organization is in terms of safety culture. Documents included in the analysis are typically: minutes from safety meetings, risk assessments, incident reports and investigations, audit reports, maintenance records, and training records.