Learn more aBOUT THE
ACSA Safety Culture & High Reliability Organization (HRO) Demonstration & Evaluation Project
The Alberta Construction Safety Association (ACSA) is leading an industry-wide Demonstration & Evaluation Project focused on evaluating a more effective approach to contractor performance assurance. Intactix Systems serves as project architect and methodology provider, with academic support provided through Athabasca University.
It is a practical industry initiative demonstrating and evaluating whether a Shared Performance Assurance Framework can help create the foundation for an industry-wide safety culture that integrates safety into everyday work while reducing administrative burden across the contractor ecosystem.
Toward A More Effective Approach to Contractor Performance Assurance
Across industry, organizations have invested enormous time, resources, and leadership attention into improving safety performance.
New programs, initiatives, contractor management systems, verification processes, and performance assurance requirements have become standard practice.
Yet despite these efforts, industry continues to face the same uncomfortable realities:
- Industry has struggled to meaningfully reduce serious incident rates.
- Similar incidents continue to repeat.
- Contractors continue to experience disproportionately high rates of serious injury and fatality.
- Administrative burden continues to increase for both Contractors and Hiring Clients.
Industry is looking for practical solutions that simplify rather than add. The challenge is no longer effort. The challenge is results.
Contractors and Hiring Clients ultimately want the same outcome: safe, reliable, and predictable operational performance.
Yet that outcome is often pursued through different systems, different measures, different expectations, and different contractor management processes.
Industry has recognized that performance assurance is a shared challenge that requires a shared approach.
A Demonstration of a Different Approach
This is not another safety requirement. It is a practical methodology designed to provide objective visibility into the factors that create operational performance.
Grounded in applied behavioural science, sociotechnical risk science, and High Reliability Organization (HRO) principles, the project is utilizing a socio-technical methodology that operationalizes safety culture and operational reliability, providing a new approach to measuring performance that:
- Does not rely on employee surveys, interviews, or self-reported perceptions
- Minimizes administrative effort and disruption to normal operations
- Creates objective visibility into safety culture and operational performance
- Supports continuous performance assurance through ongoing monitoring
Building on demonstrated results achieved within individual organizations, the initiative is evaluating whether a Shared Performance Assurance Framework can provide the common performance language, shared expectations, and measurable High Reliability Organization (HRO) performance needed to support an industry-wide safety culture. The objective is to achieve:
- Reduced Serious Injury and Fatality (SIF) Exposure
- Stronger Operational Performance
- More Effective Performance Assurance
- Less Complexity and Burden
Project Leadership
Alberta Construction Safety Association (ACSA)
Industry leadership, participant engagement, project support, and delivery coordination.
Intactix
Architect of the Shared Performance Assurance Framework and provider of the methodology, technology platform, analytics, and implementation support used throughout the Demonstration & Evaluation Project.
Athabasca University
Independent academic collaboration supporting evaluation design, methodological rigor, ethical governance, interpretation of findings, and scholarly dissemination.
An ACSA-Led Demonstration & Evaluation Project
- Alberta's largest construction safety association
- Represents more than 56,000 construction companies
- Approved and administered by ACSA
- Supporting industry-led demonstration and evaluation of a Shared Performance Assurance Framework
"This project marks a major shift in contractor performance management. It introduces a practical, science-backed approach that makes safety culture measurable, reliable, and predictive.”
Mark Hoosein
Chief Executive Officer
Who Should Participate
Join an industry-led initiative focused on improving how contractor safety performance is understood and managed.
This project is an opportunity to contribute to a more practical, shared approach that aims to reduce unnecessary complexity while strengthening safety outcomes across the industry.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss whether participation is a good fit for your organization.
