A Construction Industries View on Accountability in a No-Blame Culture

Sammanfattning: Construction is one of the most dangerous industries in the United States. Job sites are controlled by the General Contractor who may perform their own work and will have Subcontractors perform other scopes of work. Work is performed by a mix of union and non-union workers. Frontline workers are often “held accountable” and blamed for mishaps that happen on a job site which often leads to disciplinary action. Recently, the researcher’s organization attempted to adopt a no-blame culture. While upper management embraced the values that come from a no-blame culture, middle management has struggled to accept a no-blame culture due to the lack of accountability. The aim of this research is to identify if a no-blame culture would be accepted in the construction industry. Additionally, assessing if accountability is needed in a no-blame culture. This study will evaluate a blame culture, no-blame culture, retrospective and prospective forms of accountability, and restorative justice in the safety science literature. Also, fifteen semi-structured case studies were conducted with Safety Professionals currently employed in the construction industry. When the information was obtained from the interviewees, thematic analysis was used to identify themes that arose from the interview. The study found that thirteen of the fifteen Safety Professionals in the construction industry would accept a no-blame culture within their organization. Another finding from the interviews found that accountability is predominately seen as retrospective and retributive. Furthermore, due to accountabilities retrospective traits, both retrospective and protective accountability are not needed in a no-blame culture.