The relevance of safety culture as a regulatory concept and management strategy in professional transport

The Swedish Transport Agency (STA) has defined focusing on safety culture as part of the regulatory strategy. This study suggests, however, that the use, relevance and potential of the concept varies widely among sectors. While there was strong focus on safety culture in aviation and rail, there was little explicit focus in the maritime sector and no explicit focus on in the road sector. Our analysis indicate that sector authorities’ different focus is due to factors like: 1) legislative frameworks, 2) regulatory strategy and priorities, 3) regulatory competence and resources, 4) competence and resources of the transport companies, 5) the business structure of the sectors, 6) trust between regulators and the regulated, 7) different organisational maturity levels within the sectors, and 8) the consideration of equal conditions for competition.