ND Unit A - Element A2: Loss Causation and Incident Investigation Flashcards
Outline the five factors of Heinrich’s accident sequence
The five factors of Heinrich’s accident sequence are:
• Ancestry and social environment - character traits.
• Fault of person - inherited or acquired faults.
• Unsafe act and/or mechanical or physical hazard.
• Accident - event causing injury.
• Injury - effect of accident.
How does Bird and Loftus’ theory of accident causation differ from Heinrich’s?
Bird and Loftus extended Heinrich’s theory to include
the influence of management in the cause and effect of accidents. They suggested a modified sequence of events:
• lack of control by management;
• permitting basic causes (i.e. personal and job factors);
• leading to immediate causes (such as substandard practices, conditions or errors);
• which are the direct cause of the accident;
• which result in loss (which may be categorised as negligible, minor, serious or catastrophic).
According to Reason, what in an organisation are “latent failures”?
Latent failures are failures in the organisation or environment that remain dormant and are often either unrecognised or not appreciated until they lead to an active failure and a loss event. An example would be a lack of adequate training for a particular task. Only when a worker who undertakes the task commits an error due to the lack of training does the failing become appreciated.
What important principle of accident causation theory do accident ratio studies illustrate?
Accident triangles show there is a ratio between unsafe acts, minor incidents and more serious ones. If employers aim to reduce the frequency of unsafe acts, this will lead to a reduction in more serious outcomes.
What categories of incident have to be reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013?
Categories of incident which have to be reported under RIDDOR 2013 are: • Fatality. • Specified injuries. • Over-seven-day injuries. • Reportable occupational diseases. • Reportable dangerous occurrences.
What types of occupational disease are reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013?
Occupational diseases that must be reported under RIDDOR include:
• Carpal tunnel syndrome.
• Severe cramp of the hand or forearm.
• Occupational dermatitis.
• Hand-arm vibration syndrome.
• Occupational asthma.
• Tendonitis or tenosynovitis of the hand or forearm.
• Any occupational cancer.
• Any disease attributed to an occupational exposure to a biological agent.
What useful information can internal accident reporting and recording systems provide?
Accident records should be used as a tool to help control the accidents that are causing the injuries and damage and should provide the following useful information:
• The relative importance of the various injury and damage sources.
• The conditions, processes, machines and activities that cause the injuries/damage.
• The extent of repetition of each type of injury or accident in each operation.
• Accident repeaters, i.e. those workers who tend to be repeatedly injured or are involved in more accidents.
• How to prevent similar accidents in the future.
What are the purposes of accident and ill-health investigation?
There will always be an immediate cause for an accident, but we are also interested in finding the underlying and root causes, which is why we need to consider the chain of events leading up to an accident. The domino effect of Heinrich’s theory is a good example. Obviously,
any remedy that starts at the earliest stages will not
only prevent this accident, but a lot of others that have
the same root cause. Often, accident reports tend
to concentrate on ‘cause of injury’, when the safety practitioner is more interested in ‘cause of accident’. In the case of a multiple-cause accident, we do, at the very least, need to consider if it involves an unsafe act, an unsafe condition and an unsafe person, and how these interact.
What equipment might be required in order to carry out an accident investigation?
There is a number of items which will be required for an investigation, including the following:
• Photographic equipment.
• Portable lights which may be necessary as electricity may be switched off or the accident scene may be in a poorly lit area in a confined space, such as a manhole.
• Sketchpad, pencils and measuring equipment.
• Record-keeping equipment, which should include a notebook and possibly recording equipment.
• Sample collection equipment, such as jars or other containers that can be sealed to prevent loss, evaporation or contamination. Paper bags, plastic bags, envelopes and cartons may also be required.
• Tools for cleaning debris or spillages.
• Where explosive or flammable vapours and gases are liable to be involved, some sort of portable gas/vapour detection equipment should be available. Similarly, where poisonous or radioactive materials may be involved, the appropriate detection equipment should be provided.
What are the four principal stages of an accident investigation?
Following HSG245, accident investigation can follow four complementary steps:
• Step 1: Gathering the information.
• Step 2: Analysing the information.
• Step 3: Identifying risk control measures.
• Step 4: The action plan and its implementation.
