THEORIES OF ACCIDENT CAUSATION 1.

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BASIC G
OCCUPATIONAL
SAFETY AND HEALTH 1
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MODULE 1

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A) Domino Theory
According to Herbert W. Heinrich, there are five factors in the
sequence of events leading up to an accident. These factors are as
follows:
1) Ancestry and Social Environment – negative traits that may lead
people to behave in an unsafe manner can be inherited (ancestry)
or acquired as a result of social environment.
2) Fault of a Person – negative character traits, whether inherited or
acquired, are why people behave in an unsafe manner and why
hazardous conditions exist.
3) Unsafe Act/ Mechanical or Physical Hazard – Unsafe acts committed
by people and the mechanical or physical hazards are the direct
causes of accidents.
4) Accident – typically, accidents that result in injury are caused by
falling or being hit by moving objects.
5) Injury – typical injuries resulting from accidents include lacerations
and fractures.
Heinrich’s theory has two central points: (1) injuries are caused by
the action of preceding factors and (2) removal of the central
factor (unsafe act/ hazardous condition) negates the action of
the preceding factors, and, in doing so, prevents accidents and
injuries.

B) Human Factors Theory

This theory attributes accidents to a chain of events ultimately
caused by human error. It consists of the following three broad factors that
lead to human error:
Overload – amounts to an imbalance between a person’s
capacity at any given time and the load that the person is carrying in a
given state. The load that the person is carrying consists of tasks for which
he or she is responsible and added burdens resulting from environmental
factors (noise, distractions, and so on), internal factors (personal problems,
emotional stress and worry), and situational factors (level of risks, unclear
instructions, and so on).
Inappropriate response and incompatibility – How a person
responds in a given situation can cause or prevent an accident. In
addition, the incompatibility of a person’s workstation with regard to size,
force, reach, feel and similar factors can lead to accidents and injuries.
Inappropriate activities – Ex. Undertaking a task without knowing
how to do it, misjudging the degree of risk involved in a given task and
proceeds based on that misjudgment.
C) Accident/ Incident Theory

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Developed by Dan Petersen, this is an extension of the human
factors theory. Petersen introduced such new elements as ergonomic
traps, the decision to err, and systems failures, while retaining much of the
human factors theory.

Petersen’s Accident/
Incident Theory

Overload Ergo Traps Decision to Err

• Pressure • Incompatible • Misjudgment

• Fatigue workstation of the risk
• Motivation (size, force, • Unconscious
reach, feel) desire to err
• Drugs
• Incompatible
• Alcohol • Logical
expectations
• Worry decision
based on the
situation

Human Error

Systems Failure

• Policy
Accident
• Responsibility
• Training
• Inspection
• Correction
• Standards Injury/ Damage

D) Epidemiological Theory
Epidemiology is the study of causal relationships between
environmental factors and disease. The epidemiological theory holds that
the models used for studying and determining these relationships can also
be used to study causal relationships between environmental factors and
accidents and diseases.

Epidemiological Theory

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E) Systems Theory
This theory views a situation in which an accident may occur as a
system comprised of the following components: person (host), machine
(agency), and environment. The likelihood of an accident occurring is
determined by how these components interact. Changes in the patterns
of interaction can increase or reduce the probability of accident.

F) Combination Theory
This theory posits that no one model can explain all accidents.
Factors from two or more models may be part of the cause.

G) Behavioral Theory
There are seven principles of behavior-based safety: intervention,
identification of internal factors, motivation to behave in the desired
manner, focus on the positive consequences of appropriate behavior,
application of the scientific method, integration of information, and
planned interventions.

Other contributing causes of workplace accident:

• Drugs and alcohol
• Clinical depression

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• Management failures
• Obesity