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ACCIDENT CAUSATION

THEORIES

(EPIDEMIOLOGY THEORY)

CEE 698 – Construction Health and Safety

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THEORIES OF ACCIDENT CAUSATION

The most widely known theories of

accident causation:

Domino theory

Human factors theory

Accident / incident theory

Epidemiological theory

Systems theory

Combination theory

Behavioral theory

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EPIDEMIOLOGICAL THEORY

Epidemiology: Study of causal relationships between

environmental factors and disease.

Epidemiological theory holds that the models used for

studying and determining these relationships can

also be used to study casual relationships between

environmental factors and accidents.

Components:

Predisposition Characteristics

Situational Characteristics

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Traditional approaches focused on

accidents and resulting injuries.

Current trend includes a broader perspective of

industrial hygiene issues.

Industrial Hygiene concerns environmental issues that

can lead to sickness, disease, impaired health.

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EPIDEMIOLOGICAL THEORY

CEE 698 – Construction Health and Safety

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EPIDEMIOLOGICAL THEORY -

EXAMPLE

For example, if an employee who is particularly susceptible to peer pressure (predisposition characteristic) is pressured by his workers (situational characteristic) to speed up his operation, the result will be an increased probability of an accident.