ACCIDENT CAUSATION

THEORIES

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 ACCIDENT DEFINITION

Accident is an unexpected, unplanned event

in a sequence of events, that occurs through a
combination of causes; it results in physical
harm (injury or disease) to an individual,
damage to property, a near-miss, a loss, or any
combination of these effects.

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Accidents- The Consequences
Immediate Short Term Long Term
- Death - Medical - Suffering
Treatment
- Injury - Repairs - Disability
- Pain - Replacements - Lost Income
- Disease - Lost Production - Insurance
- Damage - Increased Cost - Compensation
- Loss - Discipline - Mistrust
- Fear - Low Morale - Profitability
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HEINRICH (1930’s)
FIVE STAGE SEQUENCE
Ancestry/social environment
Fault of a person
Unsafe act/condition
Accident
Injury

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 HEINRICH
 In accident prevention, the bull’s eye of
the target is in the middle of sequence
 Less emphasize that there were
underlying accident causes
 This could led blaming the employee
when in fact the management system is
at fault

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 MULTIPLE CAUSATION
CAUSE A
CAUSE B ACCIDENT
CAUSE C

 Each of this cause is equivalent to 3rd

stage of Heinrich Theory
 It can represent unsafe act or condition or
situation
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 MULTIPLE CAUSATION
 Contributing causes combine together in
some way to result in an accident
 Accident investigation of falling from
defective ladder using Heinrich may reveal
that the unsafe act was climbing a defective
ladder and the unsafe condition is the
defective ladder
 Looking at the same accident and search for
multiple causes we might ask:

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FALL FROM A DEFECTIVE
LADDER
 Why was the defective ladder not found
during normal inspection?
 Why did the supervisor allow its use?
 Didn’t the injured employee know it should
not be used?
 Was the employee properly trained?
 Was the employee reminded not to use the
ladder?
 Did the superior examine the job first?
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 ACCIDENT ICEBERG
THE HIDDEN COSTS
INJURED COSTS-covering injury, ill health, damage.
THE HIDDEN UNINSURED COSTS-(8-36 times as
much as insured costs).
 Product and material  Overtime working
damage  Temporary labour
 Plant and building  Investigation time
damage 
 Supervisors time
Tool and equipment diverted
damage 
 Clerical Effort
Legal costs  Fines
 Expenditure on  Loss of expertise /
emergency supplies experience
 Clearing site
 Production delays 10
 ACCIDENT PREVENTION
COSTS
DESIGN COSTS (eg to install machine guards).
OPERATIONAL COSTS (training costs, PPE,
etc).
SAFE GUARDING THE FUTURE COSTS
(health surveillance, audits etc)

COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Compare specific accident costs with cost of
specific improvement being suggested.
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 DOMINO SEQUENCE
 STAGE 1- Management Control
 STAGE 2 – Personal and Job Factors
 STAGE 3 – Unsafe Acts/or Unsafe
Condition
 STAGE 4 – The Accident/Incident
 STAGE 5 – Loss of People/Property
 STAGE 6 - Cost
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 LACK OF CONTROL

PERSONAL & JOB FACTORS

UNSAFE ACT/ UNSAFE CONDITION

MANAGEMENT
ACCIDENT/ INCIDENT
ORIGIN(S)

SYMPTOMS INJURY/ DAMAGE/ INTERRUPTION

COST
CONTACT

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LOST LOSS
 DOMINO SEQUENCE
 STAGE 1: MANAGEMENT CONTROL
– Lack of management control results in the
failure to maintain work performance standards
for
 Selection
 Training
 Tooling
 Processing
 Communication
 Inspection

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 DOMINO SEQUENCE
 STAGE 2: PERSONAL AND JOB
FACTORS
– A lack of management control permits
the existence of Personal Factors (lack of
knowledge, skill, improper motivation,
physical & mental problems) & Job
Factors (inadequate work standard,
inadequate design or maintenance) that
downgrade the business operation.

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 DOMINO SEQUENCE
 STAGE 3: UNSAFE ACTS/ UNSAFE
CONDITIONS
– Contributing causes of accident/ incident that
downgrade a business operation exist provide
opportunity for unsafe acts (operating without
authority, failure to wear or secure, operating at
improper speed) by people and unsafe
conditions (inadequate guards, defective tools,
congestion, poor housekeeping) at the workplace.
– Contributing causes must me removed.

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 DOMINO SEQUENCE
 STAGE 4: THE ACCIDENT/ INCIDENT
– Wherever unsafe acts and unsafe
conditions are permitted to exist, there is
real danger that a downgrading incident
will occur.
– Accident/ incident which result in physical
harm or property damage usually involve
contact with a source of energy, above the
threshold limit of the human being.
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 DOMINO SEQUENCE
 STAGE 5: LOSS OF PEOPLE AND/OR
PROPERTY
– If there is a loss involving people or property,
the results are usually chance events
– The element of chance is also involved in
losses of quality and production
– Results of accident/ incidents can be
evaluated in terms of physical harm, property
damage, human and economic impacts

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 DOMINO EFFECTS
 STAGE 6: COST
– Accident/ incident or business interruption
can always be quantified in RM even
though the results are injury to people,
damage to property, loss of production.
– The cost of accidents are not budgeted for,
they are inevitably paid for out of company
profits.

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 ACCIDENT PRONE
 Some workers are more likely than
others to have accident due to innate
personal characteristics
 They are easy excuses rather than root
causes

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