Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Incidents
Accidents
FIgure 1.1
Incidents.
AccIdents or IncIdents
Debate.over.use.of.the.term.“accidents”.versus.“incidents”.has.been.a.long.and.con-
tinuing.one..Although.these.terms.are.used.as.virtually.interchangeable.in.the.con-
text.of.this.topic,.you.should.be.aware.of.the.distinction.between.the.two..
Accidents
.
are.usually.deined.as.unexpected,.unplanned,.and.uncontrollable.events.or.mishaps..
These.undesired.events.result.in.personal.injury,.or.property.damage,.or.equipment.
failure,. or. some. combination. thereof.. An.
incident
. is. all. of. the. previous. as. well. as.
adverse.production.effects..Accidents.are.a.subset.of.incidents.(see.Figure 1.1).
This.deinition.of.an.accident.undermines.the.basic.philosophy.of.this.topic,.that.
we.can.control.these.types.of.events.or.mishaps..This.is.why.we.spend.time.identify-
ing.hazards.and.determining.risks.with.the.probability.that.a.hazard.will.result.in.
an.accident.with.deinable.consequences..Thus,.striving.for.a.safe.workplace,.where.
the.associated.risks.are.judged.to.be.acceptable,.is.a.goal.of.safety..This.will.result.in.
freedom.from.circumstances.that.can.cause.injury.or.death.to.workers,.and.damage.
to.or.loss.of.equipment.or.property..This.is.essentially.a.deinition.of.safety.
The.approach.to.this.is.that.we.can.control.factors.that.are.the.causative.agents.of.
accidents..We.can.prevent.accidents.by.using.the.tools.provided.within.these.pages.
AccIdent/IncIdent PreventIon Process
An. accident/incident. prevention. process. is. as. simplistic. as. it. sounds.. Within. the.
text.of.this.topic.the.elements.are.provided.for.such.a.process..On.the.people.side.
of.this.process,.employers.must.commit.themselves.and.all.facets.of.management..
The.leadership.for.this.process.comes.from.management..This.does.not.mean.that.
the workforce.should.not.be.part.of.the.process..The.involvement.of.employees.must.
be.incorporated.into.the.process.in.order.to.elicit.a.commitment.and.buy-in.to.the.
prevention.effort..This.is.an.important.motivational.factor.for.employees.
Another.major.area.is.the.identiication,.ranking,.and.controlling.of.risk..This.part.
of.the.process.is.paramount.when.faced.with.serious.hazards.that.can.be.catastrophic.
