Accident-proneness
Encyclopedia
Accident-proneness, also known as clumsiness, is the conception that some people might have predisposition, or that they might be more likely to suffer accident
s, such as car crashes and industrial injuries, than other people. It may be used as a reason to deny any insurance
on such individuals.
Further work on accident-proneness was carried out in the 1930s and 1940s.
, where human factors such as pilot error, or errors by nuclear plant operators, can have massive effects on the reliability and safety of a system.
One of the areas of most interest and more profound research is the Aeronautical area, where accidents have been reviewed from psychological and human factors, to mechanical and technical failures. There has been many conclusive studies, that present that human factor has great influence on the results of those occurrences.
, carelessness
, impulsivity
, predisposition to risk
-taking, and unconscious desires to create accidents as a way of achieving secondary gains.
Accident
An accident or mishap is an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance, often with lack of intention or necessity. It implies a generally negative outcome which may have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its...
s, such as car crashes and industrial injuries, than other people. It may be used as a reason to deny any insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
on such individuals.
Early work
The early work on this subject dates back to 1919, in a study by Greenwood and Woods, who studied workers at a British munitions factory and found that accidents were unevenly distributed among workers, with a relatively small proportion of workers accounting for most of the accidents.Further work on accident-proneness was carried out in the 1930s and 1940s.
Present study
The subject is still being studied actively. Research into accident-proneness is of great interest in safety engineeringSafety engineering
Safety engineering is an applied science strongly related to systems engineering / industrial engineering and the subset System Safety Engineering...
, where human factors such as pilot error, or errors by nuclear plant operators, can have massive effects on the reliability and safety of a system.
One of the areas of most interest and more profound research is the Aeronautical area, where accidents have been reviewed from psychological and human factors, to mechanical and technical failures. There has been many conclusive studies, that present that human factor has great influence on the results of those occurrences.
Statistical evidence
Statistical evidence clearly demonstrates that different individuals can have different rates of accidents from one another; for example, young male drivers are the group at highest risk for being involved in car accidents. There also seems to be substantial variation in personal accident rates between individuals.Doubt
However, a number of studies have cast doubt on whether accident-proneness actually exists as a distinct, persistent and independently verifiable physiological or psychological syndrome. Although substantial research has been devoted to this subject, there still seems to be no conclusive evidence either for or against the existence of accident proneness in this sense.Nature and causes
The exact nature and causes of accident-proneness, assuming that it exists as a distinct entity, are unknown. Factors which have been considered as associated with accident-proneness have included absent-mindednessAbsent-mindedness
Absent-mindedness is where a person shows inattentive or forgetful behaviour. It can have three different causes:# a low level of attention...
, carelessness
Carelessness
Carelessness is lack of concern about the consequences of an action, and by extension, the behavior that results from that lack of concern.Carelessness has been hypothesized to be one possible cause of accident-proneness.-External links:* *...
, impulsivity
Impulsivity
Impulsivity is a personality trait characterized by the inclination of an individual to initiate behavior without adequate forethought as to the consequences of their actions, acting on the spur of the moment. Eysenck and Eysenck related impulsivity to risk-taking, lack of planning, and making up...
, predisposition to risk
Risk
Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity will lead to a loss . The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists . Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks"...
-taking, and unconscious desires to create accidents as a way of achieving secondary gains.
See also
- Accident analysisAccident AnalysisAccident analysis is carried out in order to determine the cause or causes of an accident or series of accidents so as to prevent further incidents of a similar kind. It is also known as accident investigation. It may be performed by a range of experts, including forensic scientists, forensic...
- Darwin AwardsDarwin AwardsThe Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honor, created by Wendy Northcutt to recognize individuals who contribute to human evolution by self-selecting themselves out of the gene pool through putting themselves in life-threatening situations...
- Diathesis–stress model
- Human factorsHuman factorsHuman factors science or human factors technologies is a multidisciplinary field incorporating contributions from psychology, engineering, industrial design, statistics, operations research and anthropometry...
Sources
Note: this article is partly based on public domain text from the U.S. government public domain document "Accident Proneness: A Research Review"External links
- Rodgers, Mark D. and Blanchard, Robert E. Accident Proneness: A Research Review. Federal Civil Aeromedical Institute Report DOT/FAA/AM-93-9, March 2003.
- Arnold J. Rawson. Accident Proneness. Psychosomatic Medicine 6:88-94 (1944)
- W. L. Cresswell and P. Frogatt. Accident Proneness, or Variable Accident Tendency? Dublin: Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland, Vol. XX, Part V, 1961/1962, pp152-171
- Accident Statistics and the Concept of Accident-Proneness
- Accident Theories and Their Implications for Research