Accident Investigation on a Large Construction Project: An Ethnographic Case Study

Unsafe acts are believed to account for approximately 80 to 90 percent of accidents. This paper will investigate this issue through exploring the reasoning behind the unsafe acts that resulted in a minor accident on a large construction project (+1B) in the UK. The study described here, part of a wider PhD project, was undertaken using an ethnographic approach. Participant observation enabled the researcher to be involved in the whole accident investigation process including witness statement interviews, informal discussions, post-accident reports and meetings. The understandings displayed by those involved in the minor accident included a desire for a lack of blame, with the incident being described as ‘an act of god’. The study reveals intentional unsafe acts that were due to time pressures, an acceptance of the unsafe act as a social norm and a lack of planning and training. Without any investigation, this accident could have been attributed purely to a cable guide, which could have been considered an unsafe condition. However, through thorough investigation there were also four unsafe acts related to the accident discovered: three of which were intentional. The construction industry needs to shift its safety management effort towards the understanding and elimination of unsafe acts despite them being more difficult to identify and prevent than unsafe conditions. Changing intentional unsafe behaviours is one of the next steps for improving health and safety of the industry, and the insights from this paper add to the knowledge of why these unsafe acts occur.