Accident Causation -  Substandard Acts

Direct causes   

The basic assumption here is that events that lead to the consequences that we see are more often than not triggered by someone doing something (the “act”) in a certain environment (the “condition”). Because of this we divide the direct causes in: (1) causes that are related to a person and an act, and (2) causes that are related to the actual (work) environment or conditions.  

Direct causes of accidents/incidents are divided in two main categories: 

• Substandard (or unsafe) ACTS  
• Substandard (or unsafe) CONDITIONS  

 SUBSTANDARD ACTS, such as: 

• Operating without authority  
• Failure to warn  
• Failure to secure or to make safe  
• Operating at improper speed  
• Rendering safety devices inoperative  
• Using of defective equipment  
• Improper use of otherwise safe equipment  
• Servicing equipment in operation   
• Not following proper work instructions or rules  
• Not using or improper use of protective equipment  
• Improper loading or stacking  
• Improper placement  
• Improper lifting  
• Taking up improper position for task  
• Games/horseplay  
• Attention distracted  
• Other  

Improvement actions can be generated form this level and will be entered into the action “module” for follow-up until completion. 

The level of direct causes may have to be by-passed - in case of incidents that have little or no relation to safety – in order to arrive at the basic causes that have a much wider area of application. 

Direct causes exist because of underlying causes: the basic or root causes.