Towards an occupational safety and health culture

Occupational safety and health (OSH) is a highly regulated area that appears to be based on rational planning and logical management approaches, e.g. OSM Management Systems: employers and employees of organisations should be aware of OSH risks, assess these risks systematically, provide the necessary expertise, to eliminate and/or reduce the OSH risks to an acceptable level, and ensure that these risks remain at their lowest possible level However, since the late 1980’s we live in what Hale and Hovden (1998) called the ‘third age of safety’, where the focus is no longer only on technological (the first age) or organizational measures (the second age) but also takes account of culture and human behaviour (the third age).