Why Conduct a Culture of Safety Survey?
A strong safety culture is not accidental. It is built intentionally, measured continuously, and
sustained actively. Healthcare organizations committed to high reliability and zero harm must
understand how safety is experienced on the front lines and must articulate the strategic purpose of this important feedback mechanism.
Articulating The Strategic Purpose of a Culture of Safety Survey
Healthcare organizations conducting Culture of Safety Surveys must determine “the why.” Most
often, organizations conduct these surveys for several tactical reasons, but communicating the
strategic purpose is important.
Determining “the why” during the survey preparation phase and working with the team to
develop a compelling message about safety culture and staff feedback are quintessential to a
successful survey. If you have internal communications staff, seek their expertise. Some
organizations even develop a unique brand for the survey.
Here are three examples.
- Organizational Safety Culture Objectives: Safety is at the center of everything we do.
Providing world-class healthcare relies on a strong safety culture that promotes high
reliability and zero harm to patients and team members. As servant leaders, our top
responsibility is to foster a healthy work environment grounded in evidence-based
practices. This is necessary to promote a strong learning and reporting culture for
continuous improvement. Healthcare systems with a strong reporting and learning
culture are known for psychological safety that encourages and rewards team members
for speaking up and actively contributing to improving safety; every time, every touch.
- The Value of Safety Culture Survey: Conducting a safety culture survey provides a
meaningful assessment of our current culture and raises awareness of the importance of
safety in achieving our mission to provide world-class healthcare to every patient we have
the privilege to serve. This survey, conducted at least every 18-24 months, allows OUR
TEAM to share their voices and opinions on safety issues, event reporting, teamwork, and
open communication through a confidential, anonymous 15-minute online
questionnaire. The results help us understand what matters to our team members as we
continue to advance our safety culture. This survey provides valuable feedback on how
healthy, respectful, and psychologically safe our culture is for all team members to
practice successfully and feel comfortable speaking up. This is essential to our journey
toward achieving zero harm, high reliability, and being a world-class healthcare system.
- Commitment to Listening, Learning, and Action: A Culture of Safety Survey is a tangible
demonstration of our commitment to listening to our team members, learning from their
experiences, and taking meaningful action to improve safety. High-reliability
organizations seek honest feedback and transparent dialogue. This survey provides a
structured, confidential, and anonymous way for our team members to share how
policies, workflows, leadership behaviors, and daily practices support or hinder safe care.
By measuring our safety culture, we hold ourselves accountable as leaders to identify
gaps, celebrate strengths, and partner with our teams to prioritize improvement efforts
that matter most at the point of care. Most importantly, we commit to closing the loop
by sharing results, engaging teams in problem-solving, and translating feedback into
visible, sustained action. Listening without action erodes trust. This survey is one way we
reinforce that every voice counts and that speaking up leads to positive change:
strengthening safety for our patients, our workforce, and our organization.
Happy Surveying!
