ReviewOccupational safety theories, models and metaphors in the three decades since World War II, in the United States, Britain and the Netherlands: A literature review
Introduction
Three previous articles on the subject have provided an historical overview on knowledge development within the safety science domain. These articles described the professionalization of the field of safety science from 1870 till the first decades of the twentieth century (Swuste Gulijk and Zwaard, 2010, Gulijk et al., 2012). In the United States the ‘Safety First Movement’ was launched to reduce the extremely high incidence of fatal accidents. That was when the first safety theories arose. Crystal Eastman explained accidents from both the organizational and conditions of work points of view. Her theory was an example of the environmental hypothesis. In England the hypothesis of Greenwood and Woods explained accidents from the individual’s angle; they considered the predisposition of victims. This theory later came to be known as the accident proneness theory, and it was elaborated simultaneously in England and Germany (Burnham, 2009). According to this theory, accidents were caused by mental states of victims, and this presumption was supported by the then-popular Freudian theory on human behavior. In American literature, with more emphasis being placed on safety management, the human factor was viewed differently; the focus was more on responsibility in relation to accidents. The responsibility carried ranged from that of victims and fellow workers (Cowee, 1916, Heinrich, 1931) to the foreman and management (DeBlois, 1926, Heinrich, 1931).
This article will cover the period between the Second World War and 1974 and will discuss developments within the occupational safety domains in the United States, Britain and the Netherlands. The management approach, which was propagated in the early 1960s and 1970s (ABCM, 1964, Petersen, 1971, Bird, 1974), and built on the ideas of DeBlois and Heinrich, will be discussed in a forthcoming article. Also the development in process control, Loss Prevention, which started in the early 1960s (Lees, 1980), will be the topic of a next article. Only some safety techniques, developed in this period will be discussed at the end of this article. Like in previous articles, the main research questions were the following:
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Which theories, models, metaphors and safety analysis techniques were developed in that period?
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What was the basis to the theories, models, metaphors and techniques, and if known, what collection of data supported the theories?
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Within what context did this development take place?
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What were the consequences of this development for the professional safety domain in the Netherlands?
An extensive literature review serves as the basis for this investigation. After the war Britain, and even more so, the United States set the example in many areas, including in safety science. This was the argument when selecting the literature. Original references and sources were consulted. For consequences in the Netherlands all issues of the professional journal ‘De Veiligheid’, the national magazine for safety experts, were examined. The articles selected were those on accident causes together with the proposed safety solutions and interventions.
The research questions mention the term ‘theory’. A theory can be seen as a validated model. A theory can be used to analyze observed phenomena, in these cases concerning accidents and, importantly, with a theory predictions can be made. In common parlance, terms like ‘model’ and ‘metaphor’ are used interchangeably but this article makes a distinction. A model is a schematic, yet not validated presentation of reality. The precursor to a model is a metaphor, based upon a comparison. For example using this definition, the dominoes of Heinrich are a metaphor, since the accident process is compared with falling domino pieces (Heinrich, 1941). This also applies to the iceberg; it is a metaphor for the accident mechanism. Because of their simplicity, metaphors have strong persuasive power. The distinction between the development of safety as a science and the professional application of safety in practice is a second point linked to the research questions. The development of knowledge in the professional safety domain is not a priori synchronized with discussions continuing in the scientific domain.
Section snippets
Criticism on accident proneness theory
After World War II, US doctors became interested in accidents. It was noted with some surprise that medical science had failed to substantially reduce accidents, while huge successes had been achieved in combating various contagious and non-contagious diseases. The introduction of improved water supplies, antibiotics, the pasteurization of milk, vaccination programs, improved surgical procedures, the general improvement in living conditions, and medical care had led to dramatic reductions in
Task dynamics
William Winsemius (1917–1990) was trained as a doctor and worked as a scientist at the Department of Mental Health at the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Leiden, what later came to be known as NIPG-TNO. His PhD thesis in 1951 was a psychologically tinted topic ‘The psychology of accident events’ (Winsemius, 1951). Like other scientists, Winsemius sharply criticized the statistical approach to accident causation, which formed the basis to the accident proneness theory (see, for example,
Causes and prevention of 2000 accidents
A study into the causes and prevention of 2000 accidents was published in Britain in 1971. It was based on continuous observations that had gone on for more than a year in four medium-sized manufacturing companies (100–300 workers) from the metal, assembly and distribution sectors (Powell et al., 1971). Like with Winsemius, tasks and corresponding actions were seen as the main determinants of accidents. An increase in production, resulting in an increase in actions will increase accidents
Human factors and ergonomics
The focus on ergonomics, both by Powell and colleagues, and Winsemius is a result of developments from World War II onwards. The war had led to a considerable acceleration in the technical development of military equipment, machinery and industrial processes, and had created serious control problems (for a review see e.g. McIntyre, 2000). Weaponry and machines were becoming increasingly complex, and created new demands on operators’ cognition. It is generally considered that human factors,
Safety analysis techniques
After the Second World War a number of safety analysis techniques were developed, which assumed that the accident process was sequential. The American, DeBlois (1926) was the first to postulate that an accident should be understood as a sequence of events. Later this idea was repeated in the manual by Heinrich (1931), and ultimately it culminated in the famous domino metaphor (1941). This domino metaphor was the first accident analysis technique (for a review, see Gulijk et al., 2012). In the
The Netherlands
From World War II onwards, a variety of topics have been dealt with in the professional journal for safety experts, ‘De Veiligheid’. The general impression was that in the domain of occupational safety, the Netherlands was lagging far behind. Too many accidents occurred and in the safety domain the United States, and to a lesser extent the UK, were leading the way (Fetter, 1947, Gorter, 1947a, Anonymous, 1965). Apart from many articles on classical safety techniques, the modification of
Discussion and conclusions
The first research question asked was ‘which theories, models, metaphors and safety analysis techniques were developed in that period?’ In the relevant period, one epidemiological model (Haddon and colleagues) was developed, two models from the ergonomics domain (Dunn, Hale and Hale), one accident theory was put forward on task dynamics (Winsemius) and there were four analytical tools but no metaphors. These changes in the field of safety science coincided with an increased focus on ergonomics
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