What Causes Accidents at Work? Workplace Serious Incident & Fatality Investigations: A Study of Precursors

What causes accidents in the workplace? This perennial question has been the focus of analysis for centuries, perhaps even since the beginning of civilization when work was first organized. Accidents resulting in injury, fatality, or property loss have plagued workplaces since work was first organized. Over the last century, management efforts to prevent these events have evolved and experienced some measures of success. From 1933 to 2010, data curated from the National Safety Council and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that fatality rates decreased by 99%, from 37 deaths per 100 workers per year to 3.6 deaths per 100 workers per year. This positive trend was substantial and was lauded by government and industry groups as proof of the success of the regulatory intervention and best practices in safety management system implementations. Unfortunately, a new and disturbing phenomenon is occurring. Fatalities in the United States have risen in recent years, while workplace injuries have plateaued after decades of steady decline. According to the National Safety Council, preventable work deaths have increased by 17%, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports an average 1.65% increase yearly in workplace fatalities, with an overall increase of 13.64%. Meanwhile, the events of non-fatal injuries decreased by 5.7% for the same period. Alarmingly, US Bureau of Labor Statistics data released this year show that fatal work injuries increased by 8.9% from 2021 to 2022, while overall workplace injuries are down 1.8% (BLS, 2021). These sobering statistics have perplexed many scholars and industry experts in understanding the root causes of this dichotomy. Scholarship in the occupational safety and health field has recently challenged long-accepted accident causation theories attributing accidents to worker behaviors that are affected by psychological and socio-economic influences. In contrast, modern causation theory proposes that Serious Injuries and Fatalities (SIFs) are more accurately attributed to a set of operational precursors. These precursors are workplace conditions likely to result in a SIF due to their inherent hazards and potential outcome severity. The challenges to Heinrich's theories have created a shockwave throughout the industrial safety community, both in professional practice and the academy. The study is a grounded theory analysis of fatality investigation reports from three distinct sources: NIOSH FACE Reports, OSHA Fatality Investigations, and Internal Company Incident Investigation Reports with the following research questions: 1. What Significant Incident and Fatality (SIF) precursors are identified in accident investigation reports? 2. To what extent are SIF precursors addressed in the corrective actions recommended by investigators? The analysis sought to discover new categories and theories related to Serious or Fatality (SIF) precursors, root causes of the incident, and corrective actions included in the reports. Furthermore, the study will determine whether incident investigators recognize SIF precursors in their investigative findings, citations, and abatement document development. Overall, the project confirmed how these theories could guide documentary analysis of the causes of SIFs and inform the practice of accident investigative report writing.