Accident

An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans.^[1] The term accident implies that the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researchers who study unintentional injury avoid using the term accident and focus on factors that increase risk of severe injury or that reduce injury incidence and severity.^[2] For example, when a tree falls down during a wind storm, its fall may not have been directly caused by humans, but the tree's type, size, health, location, or improper maintenance may have contributed to the result. Most car wrecks are not true accidents; however, English speakers started using that word in the mid-20th century as a result of media manipulation by the US automobile industry.^[3]

Types

Physical and non-physical

Physical examples of accidents include unintended motor vehicle collisions, malfunctioning machinery, drowning, falls, or unintentional contact with something sharp or hot or electrified or poisonous.

Non-physical examples are unintentionally revealing a secret or otherwise saying something incorrectly, unwittingly deleting data, or forgetting an appointment.

Work and leisure

Accidents during the course of work, or arising out of it, are called work accidents. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), approximately 400 million accidents happen on the job each year, resulting, together with occupational diseases, in approximately 3 million deaths annually.^[4]

In contrast, leisure-related accidents are mainly sports injuries.^{[citation needed]}

In process manufacturing, a primary accident (such as leakage, fire or explosion) may propagate to nearby units, resulting in an escalating chain of failure, which is called a domino effect accident.

Accidents by vehicle

Aviation

Bicycles

Maritime

Motorcycles

Road deaths steadily exceed 1 million per year worldwide.

Road traffic

Most vehicle collisions are triggered by preventable causes such as drunk driving or excessive speed, and are not true accidents in the strictest sense. The use of the word accident to describe car wrecks was promoted by the US National Automobile Chamber of Commerce in the middle of the 20th century, as a way to make vehicle-related deaths and injuries seem like an unavoidable matter of fate, rather than a problem that could be addressed. The automobile industry accomplished this by writing customized articles about local collisions as a free service for newspapers that used the industry's preferred language. Since 1994, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has asked media and the public not to use the word accident to describe vehicle collisions.^[3]

Trains

Common causes

Rate of accidents requiring medical care, sorted by activity and age (Denmark, 2002)

Poisons, vehicle collisions and falls are the most common causes of fatal injuries. According to a 2005 survey of injuries sustained at home, which used data from the National Vital Statistics System of the United States National Center for Health Statistics, falls, poisoning, and fire/burn injuries are the most common causes of accidental death.^[5]

The United States also collects statistical injury data (sampled from 100 hospitals) through the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System administered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. This program was revised in 2000 to include all injuries rather than just injuries involving products.^[6] Data on emergency department visits is also collected through the National Health Interview Survey.^[7] The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website includes extensive statistics on workplace accidents.^[8]

Analytical models

Many theoretical models to characterize and analyze accidents have been proposed,^[10] which can be classified by type. No single model is the sole correct approach.^[11] Notable types and models include:^[12]

Sequential models
- Domino theory^[9]
- Loss causation model^[13]
Complex linear models
- Energy damage model^[14]^[15]^[16]
- Time sequence models
  - Generalized time sequence model^[16]
  - Accident evolution and barrier function^[17]
- Epidemiological models
  - Public health analysis^[18]
  - "Resident pathogens" metaphor^[19]
Process model
- Benner 1975^{[citation needed]}
Systemic models
- Rasmussen^{[citation needed]}
- Reason model of system safety (embedding the Swiss cheese model)
  - Healthcare error proliferation model
  - Human reliability
- Woods 1994^{[citation needed]}
Non-linear models
- System accident^[20]
- Systems-theoretic accident model and process (STAMP)^[21]
- Functional resonance analysis method (FRAM)^[22]^[23]
- Assertions that all existing models are insufficient^[24]^{[full citation needed]}

Ishikawa diagrams are sometimes used to illustrate root-cause analysis and five whys discussions.

^ Woodward, Gary C. (2013). The Rhetoric of Intention in Human Affairs. Lexington Books. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-7391-7905-5. Since 'accidents' by definition deprive us of first-order human causes…
^ Robertson, Leon S. (2022). "Chapter 1: Injury and the Role of Epidemiology" (PDF). Injury Epidemiology (Updated 4th ed.). Lulu Books. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
^ ^a ^b Stromberg, Joseph (2015-07-20). "We don't say 'plane accident.' We shouldn't say 'car accident' either". Vox. Archived from the original on 2021-09-07.
^ "Safety and Health at Work" Archived 2025-01-29 at the Wayback Machine. International Labour Organization (ILO).
^ Runyan CW, Casteel C, Perkis D, et al. (January 2005). "Unintentional injuries in the home in the United States Part I: mortality". Am J Prev Med. 28 (1): 73–9. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2004.09.010. PMID 15626560.
^ CPSC. National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) Archived 2013-03-13 at the Wayback Machine. Database query available through: NEISS Injury Data.
^ NCHS. Emergency Department Visits Archived 2017-07-11 at the Wayback Machine. CDC.
^ "Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities". www.bls.gov. Archived from the original on 2019-06-02. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
^ ^a ^b Heinrich, H.W. (1931). Industrial Accident Prevention. McGraw-Hill.
^ A long list of books and papers is given in: Taylor, G.A.; Easter, K.M.; Hegney, R.P. (2004). Enhancing Occupational Safety and Health. Elsevier. pp. 241–245, see also pp. 140–141, 147–153. ISBN 0750661976.
^ Kjellen, Urban; Albrechtsen, Eirik (2017). Prevention of Accidents and Unwanted Occurrences: Theory, Methods, and Tools in Safety Management (2nd ed.). CRC Press. pp. 46, 75. ISBN 978-1-4987-3666-4.
^ Toft, Yvonne; Dell, Geoff; Klockner, Karen K.; Hutton, Allison (2012). "Models of Causation: Safety" (PDF). In Health and Safety Professionals Alliance (ed.). OHS Body of Knowledge. Safety Institute of Australia. ISBN 978-0-9808743-1-0. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-02-25.
^ Bird, Frank E.; Germain, George L. (1985). Practical Loss Control Leadership. International Loss Control Institute. ISBN 978-0880610544. OCLC 858460141.
^ Gibson, James J. (1961). "The contribution of experimental psychology to the formulation of the problem of safety". In Jacobs, Herbert H. (ed.). Behavioural Approaches to Accident Research.
^ Haddon, William Jr (April 1973). "Energy damage and the ten countermeasure strategies". Journal of Trauma. 13 (4): 321–331. doi:10.1097/00005373-197304000-00011. PMID 4700110.
^ ^a ^b Viner, Derek (1991). Accident analysis and risk control.
^ Svenson, Ola (September 1991). "The Accident Evolution and Barrier Function (AEB) Model Applied to Incident Analysis in the Processing Industries". Risk Analysis. 11 (3): 499–507. Bibcode:1991RiskA..11..499S. doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.1991.tb00635.x. PMID 1947355.
^ Gordon, John E. (April 1949). "The Epidemiology of Accidents". American Journal of Public Health. 39 (4): 504–515. doi:10.2105/ajph.39.4.504. PMC 1528041. PMID 18118990.
^ Reason, James T. (1991). "Too Little and Too Late: A Commentary on Accident and Incident Reporting". In Van Der Schaaf, T.W.; Lucas, D.A.; Hale, A.R. (eds.). Near Miss Reporting as a Safety Tool. Butterworth-Heinemann. pp. 9–26.
^ Perrow, Charles (1984). Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465051434.
^ Leveson, Nancy (April 2004). "A new accident model for engineering safer systems". Safety Science. 42 (4): 237–270. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.141.697. doi:10.1016/S0925-7535(03)00047-X.
^ Hollnagel, Erik. "Functional Resonance Analysis Method". Retrieved 2025-03-21.
^ Hollnagel, Erik (2012). FRAM – The Functional Resonance Analysis Method. Farnham, UK: Ashgate.
^ Dekker 2011

External links

[1] Woodward, Gary C. (2013). The Rhetoric of Intention in Human Affairs. Lexington Books. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-7391-7905-5. Since 'accidents' by definition deprive us of first-order human causes…

[2] Robertson, Leon S. (2022). "Chapter 1: Injury and the Role of Epidemiology" (PDF). Injury Epidemiology (Updated 4th ed.). Lulu Books. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2025-03-21.

[:0-3] Stromberg, Joseph (2015-07-20). "We don't say 'plane accident.' We shouldn't say 'car accident' either". Vox. Archived from the original on 2021-09-07.

[4] "Safety and Health at Work" Archived 2025-01-29 at the Wayback Machine. International Labour Organization (ILO).

[5] Runyan CW, Casteel C, Perkis D, et al. (January 2005). "Unintentional injuries in the home in the United States Part I: mortality". Am J Prev Med. 28 (1): 73–9. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2004.09.010. PMID 15626560.

[6] CPSC. National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) Archived 2013-03-13 at the Wayback Machine. Database query available through: NEISS Injury Data.

[7] NCHS. Emergency Department Visits Archived 2017-07-11 at the Wayback Machine. CDC.

[8] "Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities". www.bls.gov. Archived from the original on 2019-06-02. Retrieved 2014-04-02.

[Heinrich_1931-9] Heinrich, H.W. (1931). Industrial Accident Prevention. McGraw-Hill.

[10] A long list of books and papers is given in: Taylor, G.A.; Easter, K.M.; Hegney, R.P. (2004). Enhancing Occupational Safety and Health. Elsevier. pp. 241–245, see also pp. 140–141, 147–153. ISBN 0750661976.

[11] Kjellen, Urban; Albrechtsen, Eirik (2017). Prevention of Accidents and Unwanted Occurrences: Theory, Methods, and Tools in Safety Management (2nd ed.). CRC Press. pp. 46, 75. ISBN 978-1-4987-3666-4.

[12] Toft, Yvonne; Dell, Geoff; Klockner, Karen K.; Hutton, Allison (2012). "Models of Causation: Safety" (PDF). In Health and Safety Professionals Alliance (ed.). OHS Body of Knowledge. Safety Institute of Australia. ISBN 978-0-9808743-1-0. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-02-25.

[13] Bird, Frank E.; Germain, George L. (1985). Practical Loss Control Leadership. International Loss Control Institute. ISBN 978-0880610544. OCLC 858460141.

[14] Gibson, James J. (1961). "The contribution of experimental psychology to the formulation of the problem of safety". In Jacobs, Herbert H. (ed.). Behavioural Approaches to Accident Research.

[15] Haddon, William Jr (April 1973). "Energy damage and the ten countermeasure strategies". Journal of Trauma. 13 (4): 321–331. doi:10.1097/00005373-197304000-00011. PMID 4700110.

[Viner-16] Viner, Derek (1991). Accident analysis and risk control.

[17] Svenson, Ola (September 1991). "The Accident Evolution and Barrier Function (AEB) Model Applied to Incident Analysis in the Processing Industries". Risk Analysis. 11 (3): 499–507. Bibcode:1991RiskA..11..499S. doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.1991.tb00635.x. PMID 1947355.

[18] Gordon, John E. (April 1949). "The Epidemiology of Accidents". American Journal of Public Health. 39 (4): 504–515. doi:10.2105/ajph.39.4.504. PMC 1528041. PMID 18118990.

[19] Reason, James T. (1991). "Too Little and Too Late: A Commentary on Accident and Incident Reporting". In Van Der Schaaf, T.W.; Lucas, D.A.; Hale, A.R. (eds.). Near Miss Reporting as a Safety Tool. Butterworth-Heinemann. pp. 9–26.

[20] Perrow, Charles (1984). Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465051434.

[21] Leveson, Nancy (April 2004). "A new accident model for engineering safer systems". Safety Science. 42 (4): 237–270. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.141.697. doi:10.1016/S0925-7535(03)00047-X.

[22] Hollnagel, Erik. "Functional Resonance Analysis Method". Retrieved 2025-03-21.

[23] Hollnagel, Erik (2012). FRAM – The Functional Resonance Analysis Method. Farnham, UK: Ashgate.

[24] Dekker 2011

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