Definitions, Causes And Factors Affecting Accidents

 

According to Pheasant (1991) an accident is ' an unplanned unforeseen or uncontrolled event; generally one that has unhappy consequences'.

Causes of accidents -

Accidents are caused by either:

•     Unsafe behaviors
•     Unsafe systems

An example of how both can be involved is work areas is provided by Roberts and Holly (1996). They found that the basic causes of accidents in hospital settings are -

•     Inadequate work standards: through a lack of training and supervision.
•     Inadequate equipment or maintenance of equipment
•     Abuse or misuse of equipment, or failure to check equipment.
•     Lack of knowledge (for example in not being able to use equipment correctly).
•     Inadequate physical or mental capacity to do the required job.
•     Mental or physical stress
•     Improper motivation (e.g. Dr Shipman)  

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