Cross industry safety culture in Spain

摘要

Even if the number of answers has been quite low, the survey results show in different industrial sectors an increasing interest of improving safety culture and risk management methods. This interest is supported by the current legal requirements over prevention and control of accidents, as well as by the next publication of the new law about Environmental Civil Responsability. In addition, the society in general has an increasing interest over the environment care and the prevention of accidents. By other hand some important sectors like the banking and insurance companies promote the development of specific standards to support the safety of industries (specially SMEs) and the reduction of environmental and economical risks. In fact, a new Spanish standard has been just published in 2000, see Ref. 3. Within the scope of the standard is every organization, independently of the industrial sector, and specially the small amd medium enterprises that will certify their risk analysis according to a common method. In relation to the self-evaluation of every sector about their methods for risk management, it has been quite high except for the effects and vulnerability models. Consequently main needs detected are the development of better tools to perform consequences analysis and vulnerability models as well as human error and root causes of failures. In addition the implementation of specific training programmes is considered quite necessary. The advantages of intersectorial exchanges of information, even if highly valorated find the objection of the fear of loss of confidentiallity about information and data that should be managed in possible benchmark exercices. It can be concluded that it is necessary to promote and diffuse more safety culture exchange, specially for SMEs that are still quite worried about the competence and market pressure even if an increasing sensitivity to safety can be observed.