Comparing labour and management risk perceptions of offshore helicopter safety: Gaps, shifts and worker participation

Abstract

This qualitative case study compares labour and management risk perceptions of offshore helicopter transportation and worker participation in general and in two specific safety issues: survival suits and night flights. Verbatim transcripts of the parties’ testimony in a public inquiry into a fatal helicopter crash in 2009 were analysed with supplementary documentation. A persistent but shifting perceptual gap was found with limited worker and union involvement despite the accuracy of their perceptions. Potential explanations for this overall pattern focus on the social construction of risk: fateful moments, power differentiation, safety management systems, and balancing of production, safety and corporate reputation.