Flight Safety Foundation: Just Culture Manifesto

Summary

“Just Culture” is a culture in which front-line operators and others are not punished for actions, omissions or decisions taken by them which are commensurate with their experience and training, but where gross negligence, wilful violations and destructive acts are not tolerated.

Organisations are run by people. In tens of industries – transportation, healthcare, energy, internet, and more – thousands of occupations, and millions of organisations around the world, it is people who make sure that things normally go well. And they nearly always do. But sometimes, things go wrong. Despite our best efforts, incidents, accidents and other unwanted events happen. Following such events, there is a need for support and fairness for those involved and affected, and learning for organisations, industry and society as whole. In the absence of intentional wrongdoing or gross negligence, these obligations should not be threatened by adverse responses either by organisations or States.

The Flight Safety Foundation outline their Just Culture Manifesto and invite all who support the principles in this Manifesto to join them, and to help make Just Culture a reality in all countries, industries, and occupations.

Content

The goals of this Just Culture Manifesto are to:

• articulate a vision of just culture that connects with people from all industrial sectors, around the world;
• speak to people in all roles – front line, support, specialists, management, both in private industry, government organisations and departments, and the justice system;
• provide a framework for other people to advance this vision of just culture.

As referred to in the Just Culture definition, only a very small proportion of human actions is criminally relevant (criminal behaviour, such as substance abuse or misuse, grossly negligent behaviour, intention to do harm, sabotage, etc.). Mostly, people go to work to do a good job; nobody goes to work to be involved in an incident or accident.