In the context of Aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS) we usually talk about Safety Culture as being an integral part of the SMS process, but do we have a shared understanding of what we mean when we talk about Safety Culture.

Essentially it is how we feel personally about the risk faced regarding a particular hazard (although we do not view it in these terms) – think about it next time you jump an amber traffic light!

This personal behaviour is impacted by various external influencers for example – our national psyche, family values, work place norms, peer pressure etc.