Accidents are considered specific occurrences that lead to injuries, deaths, or loss of property in the workplace. The event is one that is difficult to explain as many theories came to exist that demonstrated the possibility of accidents occurring in the work environment and how they could be prevented. All that description cannot be complete without the mention of Herbert William Heinrich and his contribution to the world of a safe environment. This paper will concentrate on his biography, and importance in the field of environmental studies.
Herbert William Heinrich was born in Bennington, Vermont, in the United States of America in 1886. During his early life, he engaged in the work of a machinist as an apprentice and was later promoted to third assistant engineer. After that, he joined the Traveler Insurance Company where he served in the Engineering Inspection Division as an Assistant Superintendent. He served in that company until 1956 when he retired and died in 1962. During his work years, Herbert became the American pioneer of industrial safety by developing a backbone for all the other environmental safety theories. In his book published in 1931, “Industrial Accident Prevention, A Scientific Approach,” the theories make his arguments on the likelihood of an accident occurring in the working place. One of the findings in this book became to be considered as Heinrich’s Law which states that “in a workplace, for every accident that causes a major injury, there are twenty-nine accidents that cause minor injuries and three hundred accidents that cause no injuries ( Heinrich et al., 1980) .” This became the empirical model used in the whole of the workplace studies, and it is known as the 300-29-1 ratio which further led to the development of the Loss Control Triangle. In this model, Heinrich provides argues that because most accidents have common root causes, taking care of the accidents that occur commonly but do not amount to injuries can prevent the accidents that cause harm. This became the first approach to the explanation of the occurrence of industrial accidents in the height of times when it was commonplace. Thus, the model makes Heinrich the pioneer of environmental safety ( Kjellen & Albrechtsen, 2017) . The fact that whether his contribution was negative or positive remains a matter of divergent opinions while the overall stance is that he had a significant impact on the safety of the practice. As it is known that accidents are unplanned occurrences that lead to injuries, fatalities, damage to property and assets, and loss of production, Heinrich argues that most of these are high due to human errors. Thus his approach is based mainly on the behavior of people as the root determinant of the occurrence of accidents. Besides the 300-29-1 model, H.W. Heinrich had another submission in his book. This is known as the domino theory where he argues that accidents are predictable sequences that can be identified chronologically by looking at the preceding causal factors. In short, the theory states that every causal element affects the others just in the same way in a domino game when the first piece is knocked causing a continuous chain of motion that makes the other parts beat over each other. In just the same way, when left uninterrupted, these dangers will affect each other further to cause the accident which will, in turn, bring the most significant effect of loss, injuries, or damages. Heinrich developed this theory (which is considered the first domino theory as there are others) in the late 1920s. Written almost a century ago, Heinrich’s theory on accident causation is still felt like the basis for many recent arguments. The opinion concludes that acts of people are responsible for 88 percent of all the accidents that occur in the workplace, unsafe actions account for 10 percent, while the “acts of God” or unavoidable circumstances lead to 2 percent ( Heinrich et al., 1980) . The author identified five factors to be a significant influence on the occurrence of an accident, and are represented as individual dominoes where the participant can prevent the toppling of the rest by interfering with one of the factors. First, the social environment or ancestry that leads to the development of adverse character can lead to a person behaving in an unsafe manner. The traits can be acquired in the social environment where an individual learns from the influence of those around him or her or inherited through ancestry with a negative feature. Secondly, hazardous conditions exist because an individual has a negative character trait that causes them to commit a fault in an unsafe manner. The flaws, in this case, are the second domain that influences the next. Thirdly, the dangerous acts that an individual and the physical or mechanical hazards commit are the direct causes of accidents ( Heinrich et al., 1980) . Fourth, the accidents can be caused by a falling object or an impact of moving bodies that result from the unsafe acts of the individuals on natural causes which leads to the occurrence of the accident. Finally, the obvious result of the whole domino effect is that injuries will occur. The typical injuries that will occur include cuts, lacerations, and fractures. According to Heinrich, the most critical factor in the whole process is the unsafe act and the mechanical danger that is the central part ( Kjellen & Albrechtsen, 2017) . Upon removal of the primary focus, the other preceding effects will not occur; thus the accident is prevented in the long run. Heinrich’s Domino theory believes that unsafe acts caused more accidents than hazardous conditions. The conclusion he drew came from the analysis of data collected from thousands of supervisors who blamed the laborers for encouraging the occurrences of accidents without in-depth research into the causes. Thus, the works of this theorist become barely supported with scientific data, which is the basis of most of the criticisms that the domino theory faces. The ideas of Heinrich are essential in the description of what is likely to cause an accident. According to my understanding, the author formed the basis for the development of other theories which is a success in the field of safety. I agree with his idea that most of the accidents that take place in the workplace are a result of the mistakes that the workers commit. Although, it would be unfair to say that the laborers commit these errors willingly all the time, as it may be subtle without any knowledge. When a worker lacks the correct attire for steelwork, it is more likely that they would get burns from the hot sparks or the metals can drop on their feet. This is an example of how the worker can lead to an accident by not adhering to the rules of the company and dressing appropriately. Thus, logical practice is essential because even if the systems are all in the right places, a lack of rational thinking among the workers can lead to accidents.
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Today, the domino theory and Heinrich’s triangle can be applied to the workplace to prevent the majority of the accidents that arise as a result of worker mistakes and errors. Despite the biased criticism that the ideologies face, they can still mean that today, most accidents are a precedent, with a warning on the way, but people do not act accordingly. This does not mean that the worker takes full responsibility blindly for causing the accident on purpose, but it can say that the worker was poorly trained to act or given ineffective tools. Thus, the management has to ensure that the workers are well-equipped to prevent accidents that are avoidable. Also, the theory could help understand the role of human error in the occurrence of workplace accidents. It is now common knowledge that mistakes that are done by humans cause huge regarding claiming lives and loss of property. Significant tragedies have ended up claiming the lives of many people, from collapsing buildings to fires where the lifesavers did not turn up in time. As long as we would wish to shelf the theory due to its outdated version, we cannot lay a blind eye to the fact that human error has caused us many lives. Thus, the book gives several solutions to these accidents that are generated as a result of unsafe human acts. Of importance is the effect of gaining skills and knowledge, developing the right attitude, being physically suitable, and culturing a conducive environment to work. By doing this, it is most likely that the central factor in the domino will be routed out. The hypothesis of the common cause can help in analyzing the catastrophic event before it occurs rather than reacting to its occurrence. The causal paths would be dealt with before they cause the major tragedy, thus making Heinrich’s ideas applicable in contemporary practice. Currently, the views produce the base of the Behavior-Based Safety philosophy. In conclusion, Herbert William Heinrich has contributed much to the field of safety as the pioneer of the theories of practice. Despite the many criticisms that his work faces, it still stands out that his ideas have led to the development of contemporary discussions and research. Though, his contributions cannot just be wished away as some of the critics suggest due to their influence in the preceding theories.
References
Heinrich, H. W., Petersen, D. C., Roos, N. R., & Hazlett, S. (1980). Industrial accident prevention: A safety management approach . McGraw-Hill Companies.
Kjellen, U., & Albrechtsen, E. (2017). Prevention of Accidents and Unwanted Occurrences: Theory, Methods, and Tools in Safety Management . CRC Press.
