More and more major parties are embracing SCL: Where safety is tinkered with, quality in general is tinkered with

Safety has been an issue in the construction industry since 2011. The first initiatives to get serious about the topic arose within the railroad industry. Here Dieter van Delft, External Quality Advisor at ProRail, developed the Safety Culture Ladder. "I realized that safety within companies could only improve if the theme became part of the corporate culture and was supported by everyone. Because ProRail feels strongly about safety and there was room for improvement within the rail sector, I set to work on this. This is how the Safety Culture Ladder came into being."

A ladder with five steps

It became a ladder with five development steps, starting at step 1 ("Pathological") and ascending to step 5 ("Progressive"). Then each step was provided with criteria, coined by users. "In this, the program 'Hearts and Minds' helped me a lot," says Van Delft. "This invites people to look in the mirror and come up with their own ideas to improve safety. We translated this self-measuring instrument into an objectively measurable procurement tool. Once all the steps were colored with objective criteria, we tested the ladder within the rail and petrochemical sectors. Since late 2013, the SCL has "lived" among all recognized partners in the rail sector. Later we formulated the criteria more generally and the SCL became widely applicable." 

From intrinsic motivation to chain approach

This is not to say that the SCL has been enthusiastically received everywhere. Initially it was seen as "just another" package of measures that people have to comply with. But Van Delft sees this attitude changing. "Once teams start using it, the penny always drops and everyone starts looking at safety differently. Then we talk about intrinsic motivation and all that remains is the step to the chain approach. In that case, they also bring their suppliers and subcontractors along in their enthusiasm. This is better for everyone's safety on and around the construction site."

Fast compaction

Clear figures on the results of the SCL are not yet available. However, an internal comparative study shows that the SCL has a positive effect on the perception of safety. A movement has been set in motion. Van Delft is therefore more than optimistic. "Compaction is increasing rapidly at the moment. Public clients such as RWS, government real estate, TenneT and the major construction groups have embraced the SCL. And where safety is tinkered with, quality in general is tinkered with."