The Cause, Effect, and Control of Accidental Loss

Book excerpt: The Cause, Effect, and Control of Accidental Loss takes the reader through 15 phases of a typical workplace accident and shows how accidents can be prevented by the introduction of safety management controls in the form of a structured health and safety management system (SMS). It proposes that once the event has been triggered, there is no certainty as to the outcome, so workplaces should rely on proactive safety actions rather than reactive ones. Now fully updated, this new edition expands on the important concepts from the first edition, including hazard identification, risk assessment, flawed safety management systems, the potential for loss, and management control. This title: Challenges the paradigm that the measure of consequence (losses) is a good indicator of safety effort Introduces three luck factors that determine the course of the accident sequence Explains what causes accidents, their consequences, and how to prevent them Showcases accident immediate causes including high-risk (unsafe) acts and high-risk (unsafe) conditions The text is an essential read for professionals, graduate students, and academics in the field of occupational health, safety, and industrial hygiene.