The Safety Culture Ladder (SCL) is a Dutch safety standard and certification system designed to develop and assess the occupational safety culture within organizations.
The SCL certification was originally developed by the Dutch railway company ProRail N.V., which recognized that employee behavior and the company's safety culture are crucial for successful accident prevention.
Large companies such as TenneT and Gasunie have decided to enhance safety awareness and further promote the safety culture of their contractors. Since July 2016, the SCL has been a program of NEN (Netherlands Standardization Institute), allowing companies of all industries and sizes to participate in certification according to the Safety Culture Ladder. The SCL certification is now spreading across the EU, including in Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland.
The concept of the Safety Culture Ladder allows participating organizations to develop their safety culture across five levels, each associated with its own standard. An organizational culture consists of shared practices, values, and visions that influence workplace behavior. With a well-functioning corporate culture, the safety culture, reliability, and thus the performance quality of the company can be enhanced.
The Safety Culture Ladder aims at this change in corporate culture. The higher a company's safety awareness, the greater the maturity level and the trust of interested parties, such as clients.
The safety culture within a company is improved through increased awareness among employees and managers regarding safety-related aspects of their daily work situations and through meaningful actions. This awareness can only be fostered if a safety culture is established within the company that enables all involved to address unsafe and dangerous situations. It is essential that every employee, at all levels of the organization, is aware of their responsibility regarding safety.
The SCL does not limit itself to the company alone but includes suppliers, contractors, and customers. In order to enhance occupational safety awareness in the workplace and achieve a high level of workplace safety, all parties in the chain (customers, contractors, suppliers) must climb the various levels of the Safety Culture Ladder.
The Safety Culture Ladder measures the safety awareness within an organization. This encourages employees to act more safely and consciously, reducing the number of workplace accidents and thus preventing damage and absenteeism. Through self-assessment, companies can determine their current level and have this position audited and evaluated by TÜV NORD CERT.
Certification within the framework of the SCL is conducted in the form of an audit. SCL audits are primarily carried out through interviews and observations of work situations. Qualified and approved TÜV NORD auditors conduct discussions with employees at all levels of the company to assess how well the safety mindset is embedded within the organization.
There are two variants for an SCL certificate, differing in audit scope and depth. Additionally, there is an SCL Light Audit, mainly intended for small companies (service providers), which results in a participation certificate. Regardless of certification or external requirements, we also offer pre-audits concerning the operational safety culture.
All companies in the manufacturing and construction industries.
Certification according to the SCL, like certification according to ISO 45001 and SCC, is conducted in the form of an audit. However, the focus of the SCL audit is not on verifying the management system or documentation, but on assessing the behavior and awareness of a company's employees. This is done through interviews with managers and employees at all levels of the organization. The certification levels (3-5) allow for a precise determination of the maturity level of a company's occupational safety culture. This goes beyond the results of an ISO 45001 and SCC audit and is therefore a good complement to these management system audits.
Legal or formal occupational safety requirements (occupational safety system) should be addressed and fulfilled by the company.
We see ourselves primarily as an independent, neutral partner and service provider with a clear philosophy. Beyond the traditional tasks of certification, we focus on actively developing tailored concepts.
Our qualified and experienced auditors offer you audits with added value:
Additionally, we offer a wide range of modern and highly specialized services, from addressing and solving individual, often very complex certification challenges to the ongoing and comprehensive support of a company or entire corporate groups in all certification processes.
This means for you - dedicated personnel and proven processes in order processing:
Your management systems become more effective, your processes more efficient, and you have less effort in handling and more planning security in your certification projects!