Skip to content

Safety Culture Ladder Certification

Industriearbeiter mit Schutzkleidung bei der Arbeit - Symbolbild SCL Zertifizierung

Safety Culture Ladder (SCL): standard for occupational safety culture in companies

The Safety Culture Ladder (SCL) is a standard and certification system – originally developed by the Dutch railway operator ProRail N.V. – designed to develop and assess a safety culture within organisations. ProRail found that employee behaviour and the safety culture have a positive impact on safety and accident prevention within the company. 

With Gasunie (gas transmission system operator) and TenneT (electricity transmission system operator), two further major Dutch companies have decided to raise safety awareness within their organisations and to support the safety culture of their contractual partners. Since July 2016, the Safety Culture Ladder has been part of the NEN (Nederlandse Norm) programme. Companies of all sizes and across all sectors can use it to obtain SCL certification. The certification is winning over more and more companies across Europe – including in Switzerland, Belgium and Germany.

Request a quote

Target group

The Safety Culture Ladder (SCL) is aimed at organisations of all sizes and across all sectors that wish to develop and assess their occupational safety culture in order to improve accident prevention. This certification is particularly aimed at organisations that wish to strengthen the safety awareness and safety culture of their employees and contractors.

What are the benefits of certification according to SCL?

  • Identifying and addressing the specific occupational health and safety challenges within your organisation
  • Managers and employees actively engage with the issues of health and safety and reflect on their own behaviour and routines. This has a positive impact on the corporate culture and enhances the safety of all employees.
  • Your managers and employees are more sensitive to safety issues in their day-to-day work and are changing their behaviour.
  • Clients with high standards regarding the safety culture of their suppliers and contractors will require certification in addition to ISO 45001 or SCC.
Infografik fünf Stufen Stufen der Safety Culture Ladder

Levels of the SCL

Participating organisations can develop their safety culture across five levels, each of which reflects a distinct level of safety. Every corporate culture has its own values, visions and practices that shape behaviour in the workplace. If this corporate culture functions effectively, it has a positive influence on the safety culture, reliability and, consequently, the quality of the organisation’s performance.

The Safety Culture Ladder aims to bring about this change in corporate culture. The stronger the safety awareness within a company, the greater the trust of interested parties, such as clients. 

Safety culture within a company can be improved through increased awareness among managers and employees of safety-related factors in their daily working environment and through well-considered actions. However, this fundamental attitude can only emerge where a safety culture has been established that allows all those involved to openly address unsafe and hazardous situations. It is crucial for success that every manager and every employee is made aware of safety issues and acts accordingly with a sense of responsibility. 

SCL is not limited to the company alone. It involves customers, contractors and suppliers. To raise awareness of occupational safety and achieve a high level of safety in the workplace, all stakeholders – customers, contractors and suppliers – must climb the steps of the Safety Culture Ladder.

How do you obtain a Safety Culture Ladder certificate?

The Safety Culture Ladder assesses safety awareness within your organisation. This, in turn, encourages employees to act in a more safety-conscious manner. This helps to reduce the number of workplace accidents and prevent damage and absenteeism. Organisations can assess for themselves which level they are currently at and have this audited and assessed by TÜV NORD CERT. 

SCL certification is achieved through audits, which are primarily conducted using interviews and observations of work situations. The TÜV NORD auditors – all of whom are suitably qualified and accredited – conduct interviews with employees at every level of the organisation. The audit assesses how deeply the safety mindset is already embedded within the company. 

The SCL certificate is available in two versions. They differ in terms of the scope and depth of the audit. A further format, the so-called SCL Light Audit, is primarily intended for small businesses (service providers). They receive a certificate of participation. In addition, we offer pre-audits for corporate safety culture, regardless of certification or external requirements. 

Eine Vogelperspektive zeigt einen dichten Wald, der sich entlang eines Flusses erstreckt, mit grünen Bäumen

Climate change – additions to management system standards

In a joint statement issued in February 2024, the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) outlined the amendments to various management system standards. The statement emphasises the importance of addressing climate change within these management systems.

The amendments affect clauses 4.1 and 4.2 of the respective standard. The aim of the amendments is to ensure that organisations take climate change issues into account in relation to the effectiveness of management systems, in addition to all other aspects.

Find out more

Frequently asked questions

FAQ about SCL

The SCL is aimed at all companies in the manufacturing and construction sectors.

You should have addressed and complied with the statutory and formal health and safety requirements (health and safety management system).  

Like certification to ISO 45001 and SCC, SCL certification takes the form of an audit. However, the focus of the SCL audit is on assessing the behaviour and awareness of a company’s employees, rather than on reviewing the management system or documentation. For the audit, managers and employees at all levels of the organisation are interviewed. The certification levels (3–5) clearly define the maturity of a company’s occupational safety culture. SCL certification is therefore a useful complement to ISO 45001 and SCC management system audits.

Expert, international, TÜV NORD CERT

TÜV NORD CERT GmbH

TÜV NORD CERT is an internationally recognised and reliable partner for testing and certification services. Our experts and auditors possess in-depth knowledge and are all permanently employed by TÜV NORD. This ensures independence, impartiality and continuity in the support we provide to our clients. The benefit for you is clear: our auditors accompany and support the development of your business and provide you with objective feedback.

Discover your next service

Certification

ISO 14001 and EMAS certification

Strong positioning through active environmental management
Find out more about ISO 14001/EMAS
Certification

ISO 50001

Certified energy management system
Find out more about ISO 50001
Certification

Compliance

Compliance management systems to promote compliance with regulations
Find out more about the compliance management system