ABSTRACT
The accident sequence is triggered by a failure to adequately identify the hazards and assess the risks they pose, which in turn causes a lack of, or inadequate control in the form of a weak or non-existent safety management system. Many safety pioneers identified the Luck Factors when they stated that there is no logical explanation why some high-risk acts end up as accidents and the same high-risk act, under slightly different circumstances, ends up as a near miss incident (no loss). The cause and effect of accidental loss has shown that failure to assess and control the risks creates root causes, which in turn produces an environment that condones high-risk acts and unsafe conditions. The high-risk act or unsafe condition may result in a near miss incident, where, although there was no contact and exchange of energy, there was potential to cause loss. The failure to assess risks and institute the necessary controls creates accident root causes.
