Abstract
The purpose of this study is to conduct a questionnaire survey of 174 schools nationwide that received the School Safety Award by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology from 2014 to 2022 as schools that practice excellent school safety. The results of the 76 schools that responded to the survey will be used to identify what values are prioritized when addressing school safety. Regarding to the components of safety culture according to Reason (1999), we found that “informed culture” was given the highest priority, while “just culture” and “flexible culture” were given less priority. Also, as for to the factors of safety climate according to Fukui (2012), we confirmed that “safety awareness in school” was the highest priority. Factors that promote a safety culture may include receiving safety-related support project designations and obtaining information about damage at other schools and in other areas. On the other hand, factors that may hinder the development of a safety culture include a lack of awareness among faculty and staff. In schools that have been involved in school safety for a longer period of time, it was found that while the safety culture may be maintained and not affected by changes in management, there is a risk that the school environment may become less conducive to reporting failures and other problems.
