Practicing Just Culture in Biomedical Laboratories: Lessons from Aviation

A "just culture" is a workplace environment that balances accountability with learning, where employees feel safe to report errors and safety concerns without fear of blame. In commercial aviation, this is a legal requirement and is anchored in their safety management system, this is not a feature of laboratory biorisk management systems. This study used interview data from fifteen biomedical laboratory workers and five aviation workers to understand the differences in incident reporting practices. Results show laboratory workers were extremely reluctant to report safety incidents for fear of blame and stigma. Only two of the fifteen participants worked in a culture where reporting was encouraged. If there was no ill health the incidents were not reported, missing very valuable learning opportunities. Whereas in aviation, safety occurrence reporting was strongly encouraged, curated and developed into targeted training programs. A key lesson biomedical laboratories can glean from this study is that instead of spending time investigating every incident, the reports can be collected and developed into learning opportunities. If management ensures that blame will not be assigned, unless the intent was malicious or willful negligence, workers will start to report, if they feel that collectively they can improve safety and productivity.