Turvallisuuskulttuuri julkisen hallinnon organisaatiossa vuoteen 2025 tultaessa: Nykytilan kartoitus ja neljä skenaariota

Although researchers do not agree on a definition of safety culture, five elements are common to almost all definitions: management’s commitment to matters of safety, the importance of having intelligent and trained personnel, having motivated and professional workers, providing up to date safety instructions and using advanced technology. The aim of this study, which focuses on the Finnish Defence Forces is to address the shortfalls of earlier studies. In practice, this means determining the true faults of safety training, expanding the group of respondents to include other units, comparing units’ accident statistics to the results of the safety survey and comparing the differences found between units. The data were collected from four units using a safety survey, group interviews and the minutes of safety committees. The collected data were used for an explorative factor analysis and a multivariate analysis of variance as a complementary study. The future research portion of the study is based on the Delphi method and the scenario method.

The results of the study indicated, that five functions of the target organisation related to the safety culture were effective (management did care for the safety of the workers, the workers’ attitude towards safety was positive, safety issues were already considered when planning the work, the attitude of management towards suggestions of improvement and reporting of the safety issues was favourable). Nine functions were considered to need improvement (commitment of the top management to continuous safety improvement, working hours of the management should be focused to minimise risks instead of controlling work flow issues, increase reporting of dangerous situations, increasing regular safety inspections, feedback to the workers regarding reported dangerous situations and possible improvements, urgent removal of the reported dangers, participation of the workers in handling plans of change and renovation related to their working environment, increasing safety training and information flow related to safety issues).

The findings indicate that different safety cultures exist among the units and subunits. They also indicate that safety training and occupational health and safety inspections influence the safety levels of the units. The Delphi panel identified three weak signals and five megatrends. Regarding the four future paths found in the scenario process, the Finnish Defence Forces’ safety culture would most likely be broader, more standardised and more goal-directed if Finland were to ally militarily with another state or states, instead of continuing her current non-allied policy. In a scientific sense, the most important outcome of the study is the model of safety culture.

The study combines both safety culture and future scientific research in a way that has seldom been done before. The portion of the study that considers future science combines both the Delphi method and the scenario method, which has previously been used only to a limited extent. The results of the study can be utilised outside of the Finnish Defence Forces by the Finnish Border Guard, the Police and the Rescue Department because the structure and nature of these organisations’ tasks are very similar. The safety culture model that this study produced can be shared widely.