ABSTRACT
Few of the things we do in life are free from risk or uncertainty. As Benjamin Franklin observed as long ago as 1789: “Nothing in this world can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Nevertheless, we order our affairs in the reasonable expectation that things usually turn out as planned. Nobody goes to work prepared to die that day, but sadly some people do. Accident prevention is aimed at spotting what could go wrong and preventing it from doing so, or at least minimising the consequences. Since the subject first received significant attention – from lawmakers about 200 years ago and from research over the past 100 years – we have learned a good deal about the ‘accident phenomenon’.
