Table of Contents

Causes Of Industrial Accident – Types Of Accidents

Causes Of Industrial Accident

Industrial accidents are the result of a combination of factors.

According to safety experts accidents normally occur due to following factors:

1. Unsafe working conditions.

2. Unsafe activities of workers

3. Other causes.

All these causes have been discussed as follows:

1. Unsafe working conditions:

These causes are associated with defective plants, equipment, tool materials etc.

(a) Defective equipment/ machines.

(b) Complicated procedure of performing a job.

(d) Wrong and faulty layout of the production unit.

(e) Improper or insufficient light.

(f) Improper ventilation

(g) Improperly guarded equipment.

2. Unsafe activities of workers:

These activities may be the result of inexperience, deficiency of knowledge, inadequate training etc.

These acts include:

(a) Casual behaviour of workers.

(b) Lack of interest and indifferent attitude of workers towards work.

(d) Failure to adopt and obey safety measures.

(e) Lack of experience for the job given.

(f) Fear of supervisory staff leading to consciousness.

(g) Using intoxicants while working

(h) Longer hours of continuous work without rest pause.

3. Other causes:

Accidents may also be caused by factors not directly related to conditions and facts.

Such factors may include the followings:

(a) There are more accidents during night shift than during day shift.

(b) Untrained or less trained workers are more prone to accident than experienced workers.

(d) Persons working under any kind of stress (emotional, family problems, threat of losing a job) have record of more accidents than those who do not.

Industrial Accident:

An accident (industrial) is a sudden and unexpected occurrence in the industry which interrupts the orderly progress of the work. According to the Factories Act, 1948: “It is an occurrence in an industrial establishment causing bodily injury to a person who makes him unfit to resume his duties in the next 48 hours”.

In other words, accident is an unexpected event in the course of employment which is neither anticipated nor designed to occur. Thus, an accident is an unplanned and uncontrolled event in which an action or reaction of an object, a substance, a person, or a radiation results in personal injury. It is important to note that self-inflicted injuries cannot be regarded as accidents.

An industrial injury is defined as “a personal injury to an employee which has been caused by an accident or an occupational disease and which arises out of or in the course of employment and which could entitle such employee to compensation under Workers’ Compensation Act, 1923”.

Types of Accidents:

Accidents may be of different types depending upon the severity, durability and degree of the injury. An accident causing death or permanent or prolonged disability to the injured employee is called ‘major accident. A cut that does not render the employee disabled is termed as ‘minor’ accident. When an employee gets injury with external signs of it, it is external injury.

Injury without showing external signs such as a fractured bone is called an internal one. When an injury renders an injured employee disabled for a short period, say, a day or a week, it is a temporary accident. On the contrary, making injured employee disabled for ever is called permanent accident. Disability caused by accident may be partial or total, fatal or non-fatal.

No accident occurs automatically. Instead, certain factors cause accidents. It has been noticed that an accident does not have a single cause but a multiplicity of causes, which are often closely related. The same is discussed subsequently.