FEATURE


BUILDING A SAFETY CULTURE


Alarming statistics show a 12% increase in accidental worker deaths since 2021/22 in the UK construction industry. The total number of workplace injuries reached 60,000 in 2023/24, mirroring the previous year. Malcolm Mearns, SHEQ Director at Geobear, believes the sector is overlooking a critical factor: culture.


Around 2.6m working days are lost in construction each year from workplace injuries and work-related illness. While the industry advances in technology, health and safety still lags behind. Applying maturity models that develop interdependent work cultures can help reduce accidents across the sector.


MATURITY MODELS THAT WORK


The connection between occupational safety and company culture maturity is not new. One of the earliest and most well-known models to address this was the Bradley Curve, introduced in 1995 by Berlin Bradley at DuPont. The model outlines four distinct phases of safety culture development: reactive, dependent, independent, and interdependent.


At the reactive stage, organisations typically experience frequent accidents, low safety awareness, and limited engagement. Here, compliance is often driven by fear of disciplinary consequences rather than genuine concern for colleagues.


The interdependent stage, however, paints a different picture: a workforce actively focused on safety. They share values, build trust, and collectively own the responsibility for everyone’s wellbeing. During this phase, safety becomes a natural part of the company’s culture, with motivation springing from a place of mutual concern, not just from outside mandates. A shift in culture that produced a low incident rate.


Other models, such as Hudson’s Safety Culture Ladder and the HSE Maturity Model, echo similar principles, emphasising that improvements in safety outcomes are best achieved by elevating company culture.


The question is, how can this be done? Since integrating a tailored safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ) training program that aligns with its specific company values, Geobear has seen a 45% decrease in workplace accidents when comparing quarterly figures from 2024 to 2025.


It combined external safety protocols with internal values-based education, helping staff develop not just knowledge, but awareness, ownership, and pride in safe practices. Employees began to internalise safety as a shared goal, transitioning from rule-followers to proactive participants in risk mitigation.


Evidence of such can be shown by an increase in hazard reporting. The Bird Triangle, a predictive safety model that suggests that for every major injury or fatality, there are thousands of near misses and unsafe acts leading up to it. Specifically, it suggests for every serious incident, there are 300,000 unsafe behaviours contributing to the risk.


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By creating a culture that rewards hazard reporting instead of punishing it, you encourage more reports. This leads to earlier intervention, which reduces the chances of unsafe acts and ultimately the risk of fatalities


REHUMANISING MANAGEMENT


In early 2025, Geobear introduced a new initiative called ‘A Day in the Life’, where managers step into the shoes of operational workers at least four times a year. This approach allows leadership to experience day-to- day project works, with the aim of identifying site-level issues, enabling direct communication with on-site staff, and building greater respect across all levels.


This initiative has already shown to break down communication barriers. Workers feel heard, while managers gain first-person insight into challenges that paperwork fails to demonstrate. It has led to more regular and meaningful site visits, helping to identify and remove ‘blockers’ that might otherwise go unnoticed.


WHAT MORE CAN BE DONE


There are a few easy ways for organisations to produce an interdependent company culture to improve health and safety.


One way to do so is by introducing peer-to-peer audits, where individuals assess and provide feedback on the performance, work or combination of their peers. It involved the review and appraisal of a peer’s work based on predetermined criteria or standards. This approach provides real-time feedback, while positive peer recognition acts as a motivator for safe practices and reinforces appropriate behaviours.


Before starting work, project managers deliver a daily five-minute talk focused on safety, health, environment, and quality risks and controls to keep these topics at the forefront of daily operations. These talks may also address specific hazards, share lessons learned, or provide general safety reminders.


Organisations should go beyond top-down safety directives by including site teams in risk assessments and method statements. When employees help shape the rules, they’re more likely to follow them and hold others accountable too.


The first and largest step to a safer workplace is reshaping workplace culture. This involves implementing maturity models like the Bradley Curve to progress from reactive compliance to an interdependent culture where colleagues actively look out for one another.


www.geobear.com TOMORROW’S HEALTH & SAFETY YEARBOOK 2026/27 WWW.TOMORROWSHS.COM


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