For many years now workplace health and safety conferences have discussed Leadership and how it is vital to the establishment of appropriate safety performance and, often, the establishment of a safety culture. NSCA Foundation’s SafetyCONNECT conference was no different in some ways but there was a major concession in the last couple of the minutes of the conference.
Many presenters implied, or stated, that Leadership is a critical element of successful safety management. They also said that safety starts from the top. It is not unreasonable to interpret these statements as meaning that Leadership is embodied in the Chief Executive Officer, Senior Executive or Director and that safety trickles down through the management structures like neoliberal nonsense.
Occupational health and safety (OHS) is easy. Change is hard. OHS can identify workplace hazards and risks but it is the employer or business owner or Person Conducting Business or Undertaking (PCBU) who needs to make the decision to change. All of this activity occurs within, and due to, the culture of each workplace and work location. OHS lives within, and affects, each company’s organisational culture but a safety subculture is almost invisible, so it is worth looking at the broader organisational culture and there is no better show, at the moment in Australia, than 
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It is a common tactic for procrastinators to acknowledge a problem and then point to an ill-defined, fluffy concept as the problem because that fluffiness makes it almost impossible to change, some use the phrase “wicked problem” similarly. The fluffy concept may be too difficult for most to understand, or the benefits will not be quick enough or not fit into an unrealistic preconceived schedule. “Safety Culture”, or the currently preferred term “organisational culture that includes safety”, is often used to justify this procrastination.