Preventing Accidents

Herbert William Heinrich has been one of the most influential safety pioneers. His work from the 1930s/1940s affects much of what is done in safety today – for better and worse. Heinrich’s work is debated and heavily critiqued by some, while others defend it with zeal. Interestingly, few people who discuss the ideas have ever read his work or looked into its backgrounds; most do so based on hearsay, secondary sources, or mere opinion. One reason for this is that Heinrich’s work has been out of print for decades: it is notoriously hard to find, and quality biographical information is hard to get. Based on some serious "safety archaeology," which provided access to many of Heinrich’s original papers, books, and rather rich biographical information, this book aims to fill this gap. It deals with the life and work of Heinrich, the context he worked in, and his influences and legacy. The book defines the main themes in Heinrich’s work and discusses them, paying attention to their origins, the developments that came from them, interpretations and attributions, and the critiques that they may have attracted over the years. This includes such well-known ideas and metaphor as the accident triangle, the accident sequence (dominoes), the hidden cost of accidents, the human element, and management responsibility. This book is the first to deal with the work and legacy of Heinrich as a whole, based on a unique richness of material and approaching the matter from several (new) angles. It also reflects on Heinrich’s relevance for today’s safety science and practice.

Contrary to the perception that the home is a safe environment, a person is ten times more likely to sustain a serious injury or die at home as a result of an accident than in the course of their employment. This book will help homeowners combat those odds by providing information adapted from proven techniques used by safety professionals. Filled with ancedotal descriptions and examples, the book offers much more than “safety tips” as it educates the homeowner in how to control risk through hazard identification. Information is concisely organized, uniformly formatted, and supported by high quality images. Chapter topics include fall hazards (roofs, ladders, stairs, etc.), electrical safety, fire prevention, hand and power tool safety, emergency planning, and others. Added value can be found in the self-inspection forms or “cheat-sheets” located at the end of each chapter that the reader can copy to complete their own home safety audit. A collection of simple usable safety techniques directed specifically to homeowners like this does not currently exist. The target audience is the general public with sales offered through book retail stores, building material suppliers (i.e. Home Depot) and possibly homeowner insurance companies. Chapter sponsorship opportunities are being pursued through featured products, i.e. “This chapter on ladder safety brought to you by Werner Ladders,” “This chapter on power tool safety brought to you by DeWalt,” etc., and supporting product imagery for these chapters would feature those manufacturers’ products. There is a statistical gap between what we think we know and what we actually know about home safety. Home safety accidents disable more than 12 million people in the home every year and are the fifth leading cause of death. Forty-five percent of all unintentional deaths occur in and around the home environment, claiming the lives of children, aging parents, spouses, partners, and friends making the home environment one of the most hazardous environments we inhabit. But how can we expect to protect ourselves and the ones we love if we aren't even aware there is a problem? Hannan says 75% of all unintentional injuries and deaths in the home hinge on our behavior, more specifically, on the decisions we make. And the first and most important home safety decision we should make is to improve our hazard recognition skills and become more safety conscious. Homeowner's can't rely on product recalls or state and federal agencies to keep them and their loved ones safe in the home. Unlike other safety campaigns seen in our communities, the policing and protection of our home environment depends entirely on the homeowner. This book offers simple techniques to raise home-safety awareness and improve our abilities to recognize hazards, correct hazards and prevent unintentional accidents from occurring in the home. Each chapter of has high quality images to illustrate safety procedures; identifies problems and hazards in the home; recommends safety practices to assist homeowners in identifying hazards; gives action items for proactive prevention of accidents; has a safety inspection checklist allowing homeowners to be thorough and organized in their approach to home safety; and lists a reference section providing links and other resources for additional related safety information.

With forty well structured and easy to follow topics to choose from, each workbook has a wide range of case studies, questions and activities to meet both an individual or organization's training needs. Whether studying for an ILM qualification or looking to enhance the skills of your employees, Super Series provides essential solutions, frameworks and techniques to support management and leadership development.

With forty well structured and easy to follow topics to choose from, each workbook has a wide range of case studies, questions and activities to meet both an individual or organization's training needs. Whether studying for an ILM qualification or looking to enhance the skills of your employees, Super Series provides essential solutions, frameworks and techniques to support management and leadership development.