Accident Causation

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Module ● To identify accident

causation theories
Objectives
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I. Introduction
Module II. Accident Causation
Theories
Outline III. Accident Prevention
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Accident Causation

● Refers to the factors that are primary reasons behind

an accident

● Understanding what caused an unsafe situation to

occur is important in implementing measures to help
prevent a recurrence
Accident
Causation
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Heinrich’s Domino
Theory
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H.W. Heinrich

● Pioneer in Safety Philosophy

● Industrial Accident Prevention

● 10 Axioms of Industrial Safety

● First scientific approach to accident prevention

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Heinrich’s Domino Theory

● Accident is one factor in a sequence that may lead to

an injury
● The factors can be visualized as a series of dominos
standing on edge
○ When one falls, the linkage required for a chain reaction is
completed
● Each factor is dependent on the preceding factor
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10 Axioms of Industrial Safety

1. The occurrence of an injury invariably results from a

completed sequence of factors - The accident in turn
is invariably caused or permitted directly by the
unsafe acts of a person and / or a mechanical or
physical hazard.
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10 Axioms of Industrial Safety

2. The unsafe acts of persons are responsible for a

majority of accidents.
3. The person who suffers a disabling injury caused by
an unsafe act, has had over 300 narrow escapes from
serious injury. Persons are exposed to hazards hundreds
of times before they suffer injury.
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10 Axioms of Industrial Safety

4. The severity of an injury is largely caused by occurrence of the

accident that results in injury which are preventable in nature.
5. The four basic motives or reasons for the occurrence of unsafe
acts - (1) improper attitude, (2) lack of knowledge and skills,
(3) inability to perform, (4) unawareness of the situation
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10 Axioms of Industrial Safety

6. Four basic methods are available for preventing accidents. (1)

engineering revision, (2) persuasion and appeal, (3) personnel
adjustment, (4) discipline.
7. Methods of most value in accident prevention are analogous
with the methods required for the control of the quality, cost, and
quantity of production.
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10 Axioms of Industrial Safety

8. Management is responsible for accident prevention and has

the best opportunity and ability to initiate the work safely.

9. The supervisor or foreman is the key man in accident

prevention – (1) identifying the problem, (2) finding and
verifying the reason for the existence of the problem, (3)
selecting the appropriate remedy, (4) applying the remedy.
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10 Axioms of Industrial Safety

10. The humanitarian incentive for preventing accidental injury
is supplemented by two powerful economic factors:

• The safe establishment is efficiently productive, and the

unsafe establishment is inefficient.
• The direct employer’s cost of industrial injuries for
compensation claims and for medical treatment is about
one-fifth of the total (direct plus indirect) cost which
the employer must pay.
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10 Axioms of Industrial Safety

● Accidents could be prevented by removing one of the

factors

● Unsafe acts and mechanical hazards constitutes the

central factor in the accident sequence

● Focused on human factor “Man Failure” as cause of

most accidents
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Heinrich’s Domino Theory

● Accident is one factor in a sequence that may lead to
an injury
● The factors can be visualized as a series of dominos
standing on edge
○ When one falls, the linkage required for a chain reaction is
completed
● Each factor is dependent on the preceding factor
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Heinrich’s Domino
Theory
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Critical Issues

● The factor preceding the accident (the unsafe act or

any hazard) - most attention.

● Heinrich felt that the company for loss control officer

should be interested primarily with accidents and its
proximate causes.
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Critical Issues

● Heinrich also emphasized that accidents, not injuries

or property damage because

o an accident is any unplanned, uncontrolled event that

could result in personal injury or property damage.
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Corrective Action Sequence (3Es)

1. Engineering
• Control hazards through product design or process change

2. Education
• Train workers regarding all facets of safety
• Impose on management’s S / H campaign

3. Enforcement
• Ensure that internal and external rules, regulations, and standard
operating procedures are implemented
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Bird and Germain’s

Loss Causation
Model
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Loss Causation Model

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Loss Causation
Model
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Loss Causation Model

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Loss Causation Model

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Loss Causation Model

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Loss Causation
Model
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Ferrell’s Human
Factors Theory
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Ferrell’s Human Factors

Theory
1. Overload
• Work task is beyond the capability of the worker

2. Inappropriate Worker Response

• Hazards and safety measures

3. Inappropriate Activities
• Lack of training and misjudgement of risk
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Petersen’s Accident
/ Incident Theory
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Systems Theory

System - set of interactive components intended to meet a

common goal

• Change in any component affects the entire system

• Accidents arise from interactions among humans, machines, and
environment
• Conveys that accidents are not simply chains of events but more
complex types of causal connections
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Petersen’s Accident/Incident
Theory
1. Ergonomic traps
• Incompatible workstations, tools, or expectations (management
failure)

2. Wrong Decisions
• Unconscious or conscious (personal failure)

3. Systems failure
• Management failure (poor policy, training, etc.)
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Epidemiological
Theory
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Epidemiological Theory

Epidemiology - study of relationships between environmental

factors and diseases

● Components
• Predisposition characteristics
• Situational characteristics
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Systems Theory
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Reason’s Swiss
Cheese Model
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Reason’s Swiss Cheese Model

● James reason in 1990

● Every step in a process has the potential for failure
● Each layer of defense is represented by a slice of Swiss cheese
● Possible problems or failures in that defense are represented by
holes in the cheese
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Reason’s Swiss Cheese Model

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Haddon’s Energy
Release Theory
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Haddon’s Energy Release Theory

ACCIDENT IS CAUSED BY ENERGY OUT OF CONTROL

● Preventing the buildup of energy

● Reducing the initial amount of energy
● Preventing the release of energy
● Carefully controlling the release of energy
● Separating the energy being released from the living or nonliving
object
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Behavioral Theory
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Behavioral Theory

Behavior-based safety (BBS)

● Process that informs management and employees of the overall

safety of the workplace through safety observations
● Intended to focus workers’ attention on their own and their peers’
daily safety behavior.
● Goal is to improve the employee safety of the organization
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Behavioral Theory

7 Basic Principles of BBS

• Intervention
• Identification of external factors
• Motivation to behave in the desired manner
• Focus on the positive consequences of appropriate behavior
• Application of the scientific method
• Integration of information
• Planned interventions
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Combination
Theory
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Combination Theory

● Accidents may or may not fall under any one model

● One theory is not sufficient to explain all accidents

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WEEM FACTORS
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WEEM Factors

● Worker’s Actions

● Environment

● Equipment

● Materials
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Reasons for
Accident
Prevention
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Reasons for Accident Prevention

• Humanitarian

• Economic

• Social

• Legal

• Productivity
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5 Es of
Accident
Prevention
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5 Es of Accident Prevention

• Engineering

• Enforcement

• Education

• Enthusiasm

• Evaluation
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The Truth About Safety

Literally hundreds of thousands of workers are
injured on the job each year, and so many of these
workers die from accidents in the workplace.

Occurrence like these should be good reasons to take

safety seriously, and to have a positive attitude
toward safety on the job.

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➔ Saving Lives and Properties

➔ Zero Untoward Incidents
➔ Achievement of Safety Records
END ➔ Achievement of Corporate
Goals
RESULTS ➔ Legal and Other Requirement
Compliance
➔ Safe Completion of the
Project/Operations
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Thank you for listening!