ABSTRACT
In 2000 the United Kingdom regulator launched a programme to re-invigorate health and safety. Almost all research, whether it is in academia or done on behalf of the regulator, on the subject of health and safety is done in small, short-duration studies that focus on detail. A stronger indication of change comes from looking at the books written by academics on managing health and safety. Collectively books on safety management in high-reliability industries, such as aviation, show that models of accident causation continuously change. In the author's experience the types of accident causation within large companies are a function of organisational maturity and management skill, as the organisations become better at managing safety what causes accidents changes. It is a process of evolution. Initially companies address accidents by using the accident triangle as a model. In an environment where being committed to safety was followed with an almost religious fervour, evidence that it was counter-productive was verging on heresy.
