Using Qualitative Methods to Understand Risk-Reward Balance and Its Impact on Safety Risk Taking by Construction Workers

Construction is one of the riskiest industries in the United States, as well as the rest of the world, with one of the highest fatality and injury rates. While workers accept the fact that their job presents a higher chance of getting injured or being involved in a fatal accident than jobs in some other industries, that acceptance does not necessarily mean that workers in construction are unconcerned risk takers. To understand risk-taking, and what factors into it, a better understanding of workers’ willingness to take risk is needed. This study examines workers’ willingness to take safety risk and their perception of reward, and the implications of the risk-reward balance on risk-taking. The study is based on qualitative analysis methods. By examining answers by 37 construction workers to interview questions, the study results present five different themes under which construction workers view risk-taking. The identified themes are: (1) safety is prioritized over reward; (2) high risk for high reward; (3) working for less compensation for better safety conditions is unacceptable; (4) safety is preferred, but more risk is also acceptable; and (5) willingness to work in any job as long as there is pay. Cutting corners to get the job done was the most frequently cited reason for taking a risk. The findings of this study contribute greatly to the construction safety field and, specifically, the understanding of risk-taking in construction. The outcomes of this study are expected to be of importance to both field safety managers in the way they address workers’ risk-taking, and to academics in addressing potential impacts and other knowledge gaps associated with risk-taking in construction.