Use of Five Whys in Preventing Construction Incident Recurrence

Abstract

In 2005 and 2009 Skanska Finland recognized an opportunity to improve its incident prevention through incidence reporting and the use of the Five Whys technique in accident investigation. A two-phase safety programme approach was adopted resulting in augmented safety awareness and engagement, as well as a more appropriate and actionable representation of underlying incident causes through organizational learning. The paper promotes the linking of new concepts to the lean construction discourse, and serves as interesting case about the move towards a zero waste culture for a large organization.