ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a better critical understanding of cause-effect concepts and accident theory and the effect they have on industrial safety practices. A number of axioms arise from the adoption of this theory, the acceptance of which gives rise to the nature of accident prevention programmes and the way in which safety is thought about in industry. The generic way in which the accident triangle is reported and accidents understood obscures this fact as it conveys the implied assumption that all unsafe acts and conditions and all incidents are all indicative of the causes of serious injury and fatality. Heinrich's drawing of the domino model places an emphasis on this axiom by showing the Unsafe Act and Condition domino being removed. If the cause(s) of the accident are removed, then the accident itself will not occur and then nor will the injury or damage. An incident was defined as an accident that did not result in injury.
