The SAFETEE Compass is our tool for classifying deviations and deficiencies in occupational safety by their cause: was it knowledge, competence, permission – or desire that was missing? Four axes, one needle, one clear answer as to which consequence is appropriate. Someone who refuses to wear safety glasses needs a different response than someone who did not know they were mandatory.
The SAFETEE Compass is a classification tool for managers, HSE managers and observers: every deficiency found is located on four axes – knowledge (information, transparency, instruction), competence (education, qualification, training), permission (instructions, processes, releases) and desire (motivation). Three rings – good, medium, bad – show how pronounced it is. Axis and ring determine the consequence: instruction, qualification, process change or conversation. Sanction is the answer to one axis, not to all four.
If information or ability is missing, the organisation is called upon: instruct, qualify, practise. Whoever sanctions here punishes the gap they left themselves.
If the instruction, the release or the equipment is missing, the deficiency lies in the process. The compass shows how often “behaviour” is in truth missing permission or equipment.
Only when knowledge, competence and permission are present is a deficiency a decision. Then conversation, clear expectation and – on repetition – consequences are appropriate and fair.
The compass does not replace the manager’s judgement – it structures it. Three steps that fit into every site walk or feedback conversation:
What exactly was observed – behaviour, condition, deviation from which rule? Without a specific finding there is no classification.
Four questions in the conversation: Did the person know? Could they? Were they allowed – was there instruction, release, means? Did they want to? The answer sets the needle.
A different answer per axis: instruction, qualification, process change or conversation with clear expectation. Documented, traceable, the same for everyone.
The person did not know the rule – and gets a written warning. Result: fear, silence, the next gap stays undetected.
The person knows and can do everything but does not want to. A third instruction changes nothing – a clear conversation does.
No suitable safety glasses, no release, no time: the deficiency lies in the process. Whoever reprimands the person leaves the cause in place.
The same consequence for every deficiency looks consistent but is unfair – and the workforce notices first.
Behaviour follows context. Three of the four axes describe conditions the organisation shapes. The compass keeps that visible.
Individual classifications help in the conversation. Only the evaluation over weeks shows on which axis your company has the biggest lever.
The compass is explained in a day and becomes routine within weeks – if managers use it consistently in site walks, feedback conversations and accident analyses.
Managers, HSE managers and observers learn the four axes and the consequence matrix on their own cases.
The compass becomes part of site walks, BBS feedback and accident analysis – as a short classification, not a form.
Deficiencies evaluated by axis and ring: where do knowledge gaps cluster, where missing releases, where motivation?
Actions where the cluster is – instruction concept, process, equipment or leadership conversations.
The compass follows the same logic as just-culture approaches and the HOP principles: people make mistakes, blame fixes nothing, context drives behaviour. It makes that mindset applicable in everyday work – with one question every manager can ask: why did this happen?
No substitute for employment law advice and no automatic sanction. It delivers the fair classification; which disciplinary step is permissible in an individual case you decide with HR and works council.
From the SAFETEE Compass – each axis with its building blocks and the typical consequence:
Three rings – good, medium, bad – rate how pronounced the deficiency is. Axis and ring together determine how quickly and how deeply the consequence takes effect.
The SAFETEE Compass is part of our Safety Consulting. These building blocks interlock:
Safety-I, Safety-II, HOP and the Bradley Curve – where the compass belongs.
Safety culture, organisation and leadership – consulting beyond compliance.
Training for managers and observers – the compass is part of it.
A classification tool for deficiencies and deviations in occupational safety. Every deficiency is located on four axes – knowledge, competence, permission, desire – and rated in three rings by how pronounced it is. Axis and ring determine the appropriate consequence: instruction, qualification, process change or a conversation with clear expectation.
Because it only works on one of the four axes. Whoever did not know, could not or was not allowed does not change behaviour through a written warning – the cause remains. Sanctions for knowledge, competence or process gaps create silence and prevent the next gap from being reported.
In the conversation, with four questions: Did the person know the rule? Could they apply it? Was there instruction, release and means? Did they decide against it anyway? Only when the first three questions are answered yes does the deficiency lie on the desire axis. In practice these are far fewer cases than managers initially assume.
No. It classifies causes and proposes the type of consequence. Which disciplinary step is permissible in an individual case depends on employment contract, works agreement and employment law – you clarify that with HR and works council. The compass ensures that equal causes are treated equally.
BBS delivers the observations, the compass classifies them, HOP delivers the mindset: blame fixes nothing, context drives behaviour. Three of the four axes describe conditions the organisation shapes – the compass keeps that visible in the conversation and prevents every deficiency from being treated as a behaviour problem.
With a training for managers, HSE managers and observers on their own cases, then as a fixed part of site walks, feedback conversations and accident analyses. After a few weeks we evaluate the classifications by axis and derive actions. We accompany rollout and first evaluation.
Industry, span of control, current practice: with three details we tell you what the rollout looks like – and get back to you within one working day.
