ABSTRACT
In 1931, Herbert Heinrich published his theory now commonly known as 'Heinrich's Law' or 'Heinrich's Triangle' which states that for every 'serious' workplace injury there are 29 'minor injury' events and 300 'no injury' events, or, as one might call them today, 'Near Misses'. Accident Triangle ratios will of course vary between organizations; those starting out on a safety culture initiative may find themselves 'collecting' many more Near Misses than an organization which is much further along the maturity path. Simply expressed, beginning at the foundation of the triangle with Near Misses, one should expect to see a steepening of the sides of the triangle as it moves through each tier, and, ideally, to its apex with zero fatal injuries. The chapter suggests creating an Accident Triangle for your organization using current data to establish the ratio between serious injuries and Near Misses.
