Ten Virtues of a Positive Safety Culture

By: Sidney Dekker

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

If you feel a strong impulse to act and change things about how you are ‘doing safety,’ then this book is for you. Even if you don’t feel you can formulate a clear plan with measurable outcomes or deliverables, you probably have values and commitments inside of you that you want to get out—into your organization, into the world, to start doing good there. Maybe you are honestly aching to nourish your soul, having deprived it for so long in an environment of chasing incident targets, manipulative injury ‘management,’ disciplinary actions, evil HR policies, and infantilizing poster campaigns.

In his distinctive philosophical storytelling style, Sidney Dekker weaves personal anecdotes and cultural touchstones to illuminate deeper truths. He uses a contemplative, thoughtful tone that explores moral and ethical dimensions and invites you to think again about your safety leadership. Philosophical reflections make ample space for practical insights to guide you and your organization to a better place.

The ten virtues of a positive safety culture—empathy, forbearance, kindness, humility, simplicity, trust, wisdom, accountability, honesty and bravery—may not offer your board an immediate, coherent plan with implementation schedule, end dates or a bulletized lists of deliverables. But moral leaders don’t typically measure the worth of their initiatives in terms of their chances of deliverability. Instead, the worth of your initiatives lies in your integrity; in how your initiatives embody and express your deepest values and beliefs. By pursuing the ten virtues, you and your organization can become ever better versions of yourselves.