ABSTRACT
There are many categories of accident causes and many terms used to describe these causes. To precisely determine the causes for each category, the terms “person causes” and “environmental causes” are often used. The “actual” and “potential” causes of accidents are generally accepted as the key factors in a successful loss prevention effort. Actual causes-direct and indirect-can only be considered after an accident has occurred. They can be found by asking the question: What caused the accident? Potential causes may be avoided before an accident actually occurs by asking the following question: What unsafe conditions (environmental causes) and/or unsafe procedures (person causes) could cause an accident? Working with actual causes is similar to €re€ghting, with after-the-fact analysis and hindsight. The process of understanding, determining, and correcting potential causes is comparable to €re prevention or foresight.
