How To Use Heinrich’s Triangle In Safety Management?

The Heinrich Accident Triangle is also known as the accident triangle or the Bird's triangle. It is an industrial accident prevention theory that shows the relationship between minor accidents, serious accidents, and near misses. The theory proposes that if there are zero accidents in the minor category, you will realise a corresponding reduction in serious accidents. The accident triangle was invented by Herbert William Heinrich in 1931 and expanded and updated by others such as Frank E. Bird.

Heinrich based his law on assumptions and the probability that accident numbers are inversely proportional to the accident's severity. Heinrich's Accident Triangle Theory suggested that 88 per cent of all accidents happen due to human decision to carry out an unsafe act.

Frank E. Bird developed the theory further in 1996, basing his development on an analysis of 1.7 million accident reports from about 300 companies. He came up with an amended triangle. It showed a relationship between one serious injury accident and ten minor injury accidents. It further showed 30 damage-causing accidents to 600 accidents as near misses.

Understanding What Is Happening in the Organisation Is Key to Improve Safety Operations

Significant workplace injury has ties to the Heinrich pyramid in safety management. Since 1931 when Heinrich created the pyramid, it infiltrated health and safety procedures. Some professionals say the safety pyramid oversimplifies the relationship between near misses and serious injuries. Many protest its emphasis on putting so much blame on the worker. Many modern enterprises are using safety software to record incidents and near misses.

Fundamentally, claims by the pyramid state focus on near misses and first aid incidents at the bottom of the accident triangle. Focusing on the bottom leads to fewer fatalities and lost time injuries. However, safety leaders understand the flaws of the pyramid. Safety professionals protest a culture where company employees fear being at fault peddled by Heinrich's Model.

Human factors contribute directly to safety incidents, and safety managers should influence their employees to make better choices. Safety professionals must emphasize the near misses proportion to prevent severe harm and the potential of significant injury fatalities.

The Severity of Accidents and Actions to Take

Heinrich's study at the mine aimed to examine if minor injuries affected the number of mine fatalities over time. It also sought to test if the probability of deaths decreases as minor incidents and near misses decrease. Results showed lower severity of accidents in the mine might be used to predict fatalities happening simultaneously.

Companies can learn from the safety pyramid that OSHA's theory is complicated but effective. It depends on their definition of injury severity. Organizations can use data to find common causes as they investigate incidents. Safety Management Software is data-oriented, making it easy for safety professionals to take charge of their data. The data assists them in drawing practical conclusions and creating a more intelligent safety approach.

Using CAPA for Future Accident Prevention

CAPA means Corrective and Preventive Action as a methodological strategy for improving processes and mitigating risks. It identifies the sources of actual issues and their root causes. Then a plan to resolve the problems is documented to prevent such issues in the future.

CAPA aims to improve the company's processes through actions that eliminate recurring events and non-conformity causes.

Final thoughts

The ultimate aim of the Heinrich Triangle is to widen the bottom of the triangle to identify while analysing the risk behaviours, unsafe acts, unsafe conditions, and near misses avoiding significant injuries. The critical factor is that all identified risk behaviours are analysed using the root cause analysis method. You can use any other problem-solving methodology to identify the root cause and devise ways of terminating it permanently.

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