What Does Domino Theory Mean?
The domino theory of accident causation stipulates that injuries occur because of a series of factors, one of which is an accident. In the domino theory, all factors are connected and each of them is dependent on the preceding factor. This means that personal injury (represented as the final domino) occurs only as a result of an accident and the accident itself occurs occurs only as a result of a personal or mechanical hazard.
The theory is structured in ten statements known as the Axioms of Industrial Safety. It identifies a total of five factors in the sequence of events that lead to an accident:
- Ancestry/social environment
- Fault of person
- Unsafe act/mechanical or physical hazard
- Accident
- Injury