Accident Prone

By: Sonny, David, Dillon, Jenny, Erika,

Jennifer

Introduction

John C. Burnham shows that as the technological era advanced, the

physical and economic impact of accidents evolved. This resulted in the rise of

the insurance industry and developments in twentieth-century. After World War

I, psychologists determined that certain individuals are more accident prone

than others. This discovery signaled a shift in social policy toward diminishing

accidents by diverting particular people away from dangerous settings.

The history of medicine along with technological advancements, and the

understanding of the environment show we have grown. Accident Prone is a

breakdown of the birth, growth, and decline of an idea that will interest anyone

who wishes to understand how western societies have dealt with the idea

behind an “Accident”.

Before Accident Proneness

● Before the idea or term “accident proneness” became widely used, it was (and still is) a folk

observation that some people have a lot more bad luck than most.

● Development of awareness of safety rose in the late nineteenth century.

● The human factor became an important factor in accidents.

o “Monday effect”, which caused disproportionate number of both accidents and production

errors on first working day of the week.

o The first hour of a shift brought more injuries than later hours with injuries increasing again

at the end of the shift (before the meal break).

o Stress and fatigue may increase accident rates, especially workers who aren’t used to an

industrial setting. Fatigue and injuries increase in the last hours of the evening when

people become so tired they become reckless to danger.

● Many writings and publications on industrial safety before World War I assumed an individual

person was responsible for accidents because the worker was disobedient, careless, or

reckless.

German Origins

● Karl Marbe the German originator of the idea of accident proneness, began writing about

variations from a normal pattern of reaction in his psychological work.

● In the 1920s, Marbe and his theories received a significant amount of attention from colleagues

in the psychology of accidents.

o In 1924, Marbe used the chemical metaphor Unfallaffinität (accident affinity) to describe

the “personal factor” in accidents.

o In 1925, Marbe referred to the probability of a person’s having accidents as

Unfallaneigung, which translates to “strong inclination to having an accident,” or accident

proneness.

● His definitive publication on accident proneness came in his 1926 book which summarized his

thinking. He classified people into two categories: Unfäller (those who had accidents) and

Nichtunfäller (those who did not suffer accidents).

British Origins

● In World War One, society put great pressure in developing new systems to increase individual output in jobs.

● In 1917, government appointed to investigate the subject on fatigue and industrial efficiency.

● H.M Vernon: He proved that women were in much more concerned in the work field than men.

- He identified connections between accidents and how it connects to the context of fatigue

- He concluded the risk of accidents depended on the carelessness and the lack of attention from workers.

- Speed of Production

● Major Greenwood & HIlda M. Woods: Accidents are not occurred by chance. .

● - Accidents occur based on the individual personality and looking over themselves.

● - They believed that varying personal liability was an important factor in accident proneness.

● Three possibilities of Accident:

● - Accidents are pure accidents in the sense of being “ simple” chance events

● - Distribution of first accidents is that of “ simple” chance events

● - Distribution whether of first or subsequent accidents differ in a specific way from the “simple” chance

scheme.

British Origins

Accident Proneness versus Accident Liability

- Accident proneness is a narrower term than “ accident liability” and signifies a personal

idiosyncrasy predisposing the individual who possesses it in a marked degree to a relatively high

accident rate.

- Accident liability includes all factors determining accident rates among the person.

Preparing the Way: Transport Operators

Good and Bad Employees

- Managers of large companies were concerned about transport systems and notice that some employees are

superior than others.

- Superiority was determined by the individual ability to be smooth, efficient at starting and stopping vehicles.

- This includes one’s ability to follow rules, dress neatly, and taking instructions, and listening critically.

Psychological screening in France and Germany

- Laboratories and organizations began to test applicants for speed of reaction and for attentiveness to their

environment.

- Tests developed within labs were primarily used to track individual reaction time and alertness to stimuli.

- Then it diverted to focusing on distance, speed, and for quick decision--making. Moreover, as days pass they

tested for people color-blindness and night vision.

- Expert focused on the issue of safety and wanting to differentiate between those who are “ unskilled” with the

skilled.

Preparing the Way: Transport Operators

Using Accident Proneness Explicitly

- W.V. Bingham and C.S. Slocombe: Accident prone people had “ characteristics” such as bad

judgements and impulsiveness that caused them to be more inclined to accidents.

- They mentioned about the ideas of people having certain “ habits’ that can cause them to

become more accident prone. For example, when driving on the road some people would tend to

start and stop abruptly.

The Streams Come Together in the Late

1920s and Early 1930s

● Accident Proneness was categorized based on personality traits and psychophysical attributes

o Personality traits: impulsive, irresponsibility, faulty attitude

o Psychophysical attributes: defective vision, high blood pressure

● Psychophysical ranked high quantitatively in technical literature

● The Safety Movement : focus on recording records of accidents, mainly in industrial settings

Consolidation and Development, 1930s-

World War II

● Psychologist and Safety experts and managers began to take notice of accident proneness

o Variety of Individual tests : medical examination, psychological test, psychophysical test

● Idea of accident proneness people became problematic

o Good idea to weed out people who were accident prone, in order to prevent injury and

economic loss

o Transferring employees lead to more accidents

o Each worker’s accident proneness should be viewed as an individual matter

How Psychiatrists Did Not Adopt and

Medicalize Accident Proneness

● Didn’t become a standard disease syndrome, wasn’t incorporated into medicine

o Used in psychiatry and psychology as a sign that some other disease process was

operating

o A single accident could be a symptom. A series of accidents, for example, symptoms,

collected and connected together into a history of accidents, would constitute a syndrome,

but not necessarily a disease

● Psychiatrists found accident proneness interesting because…

○ The syndrome might serve as a sign or symptom of some specific organic disease,

particularly one affecting central nervous system functioning

○ Work with mental illnesses might provide concepts that would make the trait of accident

proneness understandable

○ Psychiatric treatment, especially psychotherapy, might offer a means to cure a person of

his/her tendency to suffer injuries and make errors

● The World Health Organization Manual of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases,

Injuries, and Causes of Death in 1948 did not list the syndrome of accident proneness

How Psychiatrists Did Not Adopt and

Medicalize Accident Proneness Continue...

● Accidents classified by the agent of the injury or the nature of the injury

● Accident proneness faded out of psychiatric writings

○ Could not predict an individual would have an accident

○ Could not be controlled by treatment

○ No applicable technology appeared that would fit

○ If psychiatrists had defined their disease entities or symptoms differently, accident

proneness might have been medicalized. But they did not.

The Mid-Twentieth-Century High Point

● After World War II, pediatricians called attention to problem of accident proneness in children

● By the 1960s, psychologists were producing most of the relevant research reports about children

who had accidents, and by the 1970s, the idea of accident proneness in children was in decline

● General assumption that events in childhood had an effect in adulthood

● New York pediatricians stated that accident proneness should be suspected in children who

have frequent accidents or who have the personality make-up and home environment. The also

mentioned accident habit should be looked as a behavior problem that physicians would be able

to treat

o Pediatricians interested in accident proneness. Could be part of the pediatric practice

o Specialists noticed accidents in children were more serious as medical problems than

infections. Articles written about how much more important tragic accidental injuries were

than serious illnesses

● One study found that children in a classroom who tended to be socially marginal also tended to

suffer more injuries

The Mid-Twentieth-Century High Point continue...

● Children from unfortunate circumstances got hurt more frequently than those from more

fortunate families. Deprived children didn’t learn safe habits even after they had accidents—had

less parental care, fewer models of carefulness

● British pediatrician quoted an American expert who held that “accidents are more likely to

happen to children who are over-active, restless, impulsive, unpopular, resentful, hostile,

immature and without parental supervision.”

● Important that mothers of children who show unusual proneness to accidents, should consult a

psychiatrist to get help because it’s not a trait that is likely to be outgrown

● By the 1970’s experts backed away from the idea of accident proneness. It either dropped out of

textbooks or remained faintly from earlier times

Eclipse of the Idea Among Experts

● Attacks

● Defenses

● Changed Circumstances

● Epidemiology/Risk Groups

Bypassing Accident Proneness with

Engineering

● Social Problems of Accident Proneness

● Umbrella of human actions

● Ergonomics

● General Safe Factors

● Few Examples

● Eliminate individual differences

Conclusion

Daily tasks did not take place like they do today and this is because

the environment and technology have benefitted from those whom

were Accident Prone. During the 60s and 70s, the idea of accident

proneness gradually declined, and engineers developed new

technologies to protect people in technically emerging countries.

Believe it or not, the world was a lot clumsier than it is now. The world

has changed a lot and Mr. Burnham truly captured that in his text

Accident Prone.