Question

A best introduction of the health and safety issue of accident causation theories in the workplace, identifying what it is, and why it is a concern.

Answer 1

In today’s fast paced business environment, protecting the employees from any form of hazard has become the prime focus of the safety programs. Employers conduct several accident prevention programs to prevent any potential hazards for the employees. This workplace safety programs helps the employees to understand how an accident occurs. Avoidance and prevention is a safety measure to prevent any recurrence of accidents.

Theories of accident causation include several theories about accident causation. Each theory has certain explanatory value (why accidents happens) and predictive value (possibility of occurrence). The theories of accident causation includes the below-

- Domino’s theory (several factors are the cause of injuries and mainly it is accident)

- Human factors theory, as the name indicates states that accidents are caused by human error.

- Accident/incident theory- states that accident causation are due to ergonomic errors, decision errors, failure of systems, etc.

- Epidemiological theory of accident causation states that the models used for analyzing the relationship between environmental issues and diseases can be used to study the relationship between environmental issues and accidents.

- Systems theory views the accident situation as a system with three main components, namely- person, machine and the environment.

Thus, it is pertinent to say that theories of accident causation guide the protecting officer to investigate the cause of the accidents and take steps to prevent them from recurring.

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