ABSTRACT
Historically, the rail industry has experienced several accidents that have been attributed to poor safety culture. This chapter introduces the concept of safety culture within rail organizations and its importance and impact on projects and people involved in changing the railway industry based on historical failures. It looks at the historical incidents that have resulted in changes to management practices in various high-risk industries. A look at the organizational and safety culture maturity draws on the current research thinking and the development of a maturity model. The issue of conflict and its impact on safety culture, together with key indicators on safety culture and the requirements needed to develop a positive safety culture within an organization, is discussed. A summary of the current methods and tools used to assess safety culture and organizational processes is discussed within the chapter. It outlines how the integration of safety culture into reliability, availability, and maintainability and safety management can be achieved to support the organization.
