Safety Culture: A Case Of Taking Students On Field Trips

Abstract

Thailand is a country with its own unique customs, traditions, and cultures, and is praised as a “soft power” used to generate income from tourism. However, there are still some cultures that Thailand has not been successful in managing, which is the culture of road safety, especially safety in taking students on field trips, which has caused continuous losses. Although relevant agencies have implemented measures to control, supervise, and follow up, as well as to extract lessons from both successes and losses from taking students on field trips, this problem has not been completely solved because the root of the problem is the “safety culture”, especially the “road safety culture”, which has not been systematically instilled. Therefore, the solution for the case of “safety in taking students on field trips” should be to urgently create a safety culture, i.e., instill in everyone the awareness that safety is not a misfortune, but an action based on carelessness, and those involved must reduce actions that are risky and unsafe, including: 1) the parent organization of the educational institution, 2) school administrators, 3) teachers who supervise students, 4) bus operators, and 5) government officials who are responsible for inspecting the condition of buses, inspecting road conditions, and inspecting the readiness of drivers in cases of long-distance travel. 6) Drivers and bus staff, and 7) students who go on field trips. That is, if everyone has a culture based on safety, everyone is always aware that they must be ready to face unsafe situations, and perform their duties strictly based on safety, it will sustainably reduce accidents and disasters that occur from taking students on field trips.