Around 2 years ago Spry I mentioned in a mtg with IFS that whilst the concept of Just Culture was developing across Defence (and developing well in some areas/specialisations) in others, like ATC, it was inconsistent. The whole thing is hugely personality dependent and, being in a position to see the data on a daily basis as I am, you can see the change in reporting levels within 2 weeks of a new SATCO arriving in post. Unfortunately, both positive and negative. The only thing with the meeting a couple of years ago though was that I distinctly recall one Group Captain asking me why Just Culture within ATC was lagging when we have 'Regulation and Policy that states that we shall have a Just Culture'. It was then that I related the old story of the reluctant pony at the watering hole. Sadly, he just didn't understand.
There are many reasons behind the problems but resolving 2 would go a long way to solving the whole problem. Firstly, education. As an organisation we need to fully understand the human source of error and its inevitability but also how we can manage that human activity on a day-to-day basis to get the most out of our guys and manage error. Our HF trg is well intentioned but, given its generic nature, it makes it harder for our people to apply the principles directly to their own roles. It then, slowly, becomes perceived as a box ticking exercise because the guys can't see the operational benefit. The second issue is resourcing, as has been mentioned earlier in the thread. To do this 'safety work' effectively we need additional resource, which means a bigger tail for the dog OR, it means getting the politicians to think long-term. Spend big on infra-structure etc for a couple of years but then you'll have a smaller outlay in the following years. There's a lot of real estate and sacred cows out there that we don't need.