What is the Difference Between an Accident and an Incident?

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Heather Cuthill

In occupational health and safety lingo, the terms accident and incident may appear to be interchangeable but theyre not. An incident is any situation that unexpectedly arises in the workplace which has the potential to cause injury, damage or harm. An accident is actually an incident that resulted in someone being injured or damage being done to property.

Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As an example, if someone leaves a ladder leaning in a precarious position and it falls over without harming anyone or causing damage to the premises or to any items on the premises, that is an incident. If the ladder lands on someone when it falls over, causing injury to the person, that is anaccident. All work-related incidents need to be reported, but employers may have different forms for reporting injury accidents. And the responsibility for reporting an incident vs. reporting an accident may fall on different shoulders. Although the word accident may imply something that is outside of our control, in fact most accidents are preventable, if people simply follow the occupational health and safety guidelines and policies adopted for their workplace. It is the employers responsibility to educate and train employees in safety procedures, to reduce the number of incidents and accidents on the jobsite.
The Federal Aviation Regulations describes the difference between an Incident and Accident as: Accident: Means an occurence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substancial damage. Incident: Means an occurance other than an accident with the operation of an aircraft, which affects or could affect the safety of operations. Fatal Injury: Means any injury which results in death within 30 days of the accident. I love the FAA's defination of fatal.. so if you die in 31, it's not a fatal accident. - Neil Harrison

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/95440/
Accidents and Incidents Definitions (Reference: Part 1 CAR 1997)

Accident An occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place between the time any person boards, the aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked, during which a person is fatally or seriously injured, the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure. Incident An occurrence other than an accident associated with the operation of an aircraft, which affects or could affect the safety of aircraft operations.

http://www.caa.co.za/Public/Safety%20Consultative%20Forum/safetypromotion/docs/CAHRS/The% 20difference%20between%20CAHRS%20and%20accidents%20or%20incidents.htm

Accident - Used to convey a situation in which there has been an injury involving a human. Reserving Accident to denote injuries helps save time! If I hear "Johnny has been involved in an accident" the word Accident triggers an immediate response plan involving first aid members, first aid equipment and immediate activation of the accident response team. This term supersedes the normal delay involved in evaluating the situation to determine what actually happened. Incident - Used to convey damage to property. No threat to human life exists. Although the same elements of response mentioned above may still be required, there is not a threat to human life. Evaluation is normally my first response to an incident. I know immediately that although it may be serious and costly, anything involved in an incident is replaceable or manageable and does not involve Loss-of-Life. As professionals, every word we use conveys a meaning to the person receiving the information. Whether they receive the correct meaning is up to us. In addition to the words already discussed, additional words also need to convey specific information. If their is an incident involving a chemical spill, the work SPILL should be used rather than trying to parse the meaning of Accident OR Incident. We do not have incidents involving fire, we have FIRE! I would encourage everyone (myself included) to always consider not just the meaning of a word but their perception! A Rose by any other name may indeed still be a Rose, but you are going to spend a great deal of energy explaining to me why you refer to it as a visual and olfactory stimulation device! In an emergency the proper use and understanding of language can mean the difference between life or death. Choose your words carefully! Bob Breslin, Director OSHA Compliance & Education Vanguard Environmental, Inc.

http://www.safetyxchange.org/financing-safety/accident-vs-incident
With an incident, the degree of severity is much higher, but no one was hurt. Near misses fall into the incident category. With an accident, the degree of severity is high with direct or indirect human involvement: someone or something caused the accident, which resulted in someone being hurt. It can be reasoned that all accidents are preventable, only if the human factor has been isolated or removed. Colin Korney is the project safety coordinator at Graham Industrial Services Limited based in Saskatoon. You can e-mail him at colinko@graham.ca http://www.cos-mag.com/Safety/Safety-Stories/Occurrence-incident-accident-Can-you-spot-thedifference.html

Accident
An accident or mishap is an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance, often with lack of intention or necessity. It usually implies a generally negative outcome which may have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occurrence. accident n 1: a mishap; especially one causing injury or death 2: anything that happens by chance without an apparent cause [syn: {fortuity}, {chance event}]

77 Moby Thesaurus words for "accident": accessary, accessory, accidental, addendum, addition, adjunct, adventure, appendage, appurtenance, auxiliary, blow, blunder, calamity, casualty, cataclysm, catastrophe, chance, chance hit, collateral, collision, coming to be, contingency, contingent, contretemps, crack-up, crash, destiny, disaster, event, eventuality, eventuation, extra, fate, fluke, fortuity, fortune, freak accident, grief, hap, happening, happenstance, hazard, ill hap, incidence, incidental, inessential, kismet, long odds, long shot, luck, lucky shot, materialization, mere chance, misadventure, mischance, misfortune, mishap, mistake, nasty blow, nonessential, not-self, other, pileup, realization, secondary, serendipity, shipwreck, shock, smash, smashup, staggering blow, subsidiary, superaddition, supplement, tragedy, unessential, wreck Accident \Ac"ci*dent\, n. [F. accident, fr. L. accidens, -dentis, p. pr. of accidere to happen; ad + cadere to fall. See {Cadence}, {Case}.] 1. Literally, a befalling; an event that takes place without one's foresight or expectation; an undesigned, sudden, and unexpected event; chance; contingency; often, an undesigned and unforeseen occurrence of an afflictive or unfortunate character; a casualty; a mishap; as, to die by an accident. [1913 Webster] Of moving accidents by flood and field. --Shak. [1913 Webster] Thou cam'st not to thy place by accident: It is the very place God meant for thee. --Trench. [1913 Webster] 2. (Gram.) A property attached to a word, but not essential to it, as gender, number, case. [1913 Webster] 3. (Her.) A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms. [1913 Webster] 4. (Log.) (a) A property or quality of a thing which is not essential to it, as whiteness in paper; an attribute. (b) A quality or attribute in distinction from the substance, as sweetness, softness. [1913 Webster] 5. Any accidental property, fact, or relation; an accidental or nonessential; as, beauty is an accident. [1913 Webster] This accident, as I call it, of Athens being situated some miles from the sea. --J. P. Mahaffy. [1913 Webster] 6. Unusual appearance or effect. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] Note: Accident, in Law, is equivalent to casus, or such unforeseen, extraordinary, extraneous interference as is out of the range of ordinary calculation. [1913 Webster] Accident, MD (town, FIPS 225) Location: 39.62694 N, 79.32088 W Population (1990): 349 (155 housing units) Area: 1.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 21520 ACCIDENT, n. An inevitable occurrence due to the action of immutable natural laws. Add a comparison

Incident
incident adj 1: falling or striking on something 2: (sometimes followed by `to') minor or casual or subordinate in significance or nature or occurring as a chance concomitant or consequence; "incidental expenses"; "the road will bring other incidental advantages"; "extra duties incidental to the job"; "labor problems incidental to a rapid expansion"; "confusion incidental to a quick change" [syn: {incidental}] [ant: {basic}] n 1: a single distinct event 2: a public disturbance; "the police investigated an incident at the bus station" 77 Moby Thesaurus words for "incident": action, adventure, affair, anagnorisis, angle, architectonics, architecture, argument, atmosphere, background, catastrophe, characterization, circumstance, color, commotion, complication, condition, conjuncture, contingency, continuity, contrivance, denouement, design, development, device, disturbance, do, episode, event, eventuality, experience, fable, fact, falling action, fracas, gimmick, hap, happening, happenstance, juncture, line, local color, matter of fact, mood, motif, movement, mythos, occasion, occurrence, particular, peripeteia, phenomenon, plan, plot, proceeding, reality, recognition,

rising action, scene, scheme, secondary plot, set-to, skirmish, slant, story, structure, subject, subplot, switch, thematic development, theme, to-do, tone, topic, turn of events, twist, upset Incident \In"ci*dent\, n. [Cf. F. incident.] 1. That which falls out or takes place; an event; casualty; occurrence. [1913 Webster] 2. That which happens aside from the main design; an accidental or subordinate action or event. [1913 Webster] No person, no incident, in a play but must be of use to carry on the main design. -Dryden. [1913 Webster] 3. (Law) Something appertaining to, passing with, or depending on, another, called the principal. --Tomlins. Syn: Circumstance; event; fact; adventure; contingency; chance; accident; casualty. See {Event}. [1913 Webster] Incident \In"ci*dent\, a. [L. incidens, -entis, p. pr. & of incidere to fall into or upon; pref. in- in, on + cadere to fall: cf. F. incident. See {Cadence}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Falling or striking upon, as a ray of light upon a reflecting surface. [1913 Webster] 2. Coming or happening accidentally; not in the usual course of things; not in connection with the main design; not according to expectation; casual; fortuitous. [1913 Webster] As the ordinary course of common affairs is disposed of by general laws, so likewise men's rarer incident necessities and utilities should be with special equity considered. --Hooker. [1913 Webster] 3. Liable to happen; apt to occur; befalling; hence, naturally happening or appertaining. [1913 Webster] All chances incident to man's frail life. --Milton. [1913 Webster] The studies incident to his profession. --Milward. [1913 Webster] 4. (Law) Dependent upon, or appertaining to, another thing, called the principal. [1913 Webster] {Incident proposition} (Logic), a proposition subordinate to another, and introduced by who, which, whose, whom, etc.; as, Julius, whose surname was C[ae]sar, overcame Pompey. --I. Watts. [1913 Webster]

http://whatis.thedifferencebetween.com/compare/accident-and-incident/

Accident, Incident & Near Miss Reporting

All accidents, near misses and incidents involving staff, students, contractors and visitors must be notified to the Safety Office on the day of the occurrence or as soon as is practicable thereafter using an official accident report form. The details of the accident, the person involved, what work was going on, etc are all filled in giving as much explanation as possible as to the cause of the accident. All staff are required to report accidents, dangerous occurrences and near -miss situations that they are involved in to their immediate supervisor or Head of Department. Accident an accident can be described as an unplanned event or action that results in undesired consequences, e.g. injury, ill health, damage to the environment, damage to or loss of property, plant and materials Incident an incident is the sequence of events or actions that produces that accident. All accidents are incidents. However the definition of an incident is wider in that it also includes dangerous occurrences and near misses. A near miss is an unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness, or damage - but had the potential to do so. Only a fortunate break in the chain of events prevented an injury, fatality or damage. Accident forms are available from:

Reception Areas The Health and Safety Officer

http://www.mic.ul.ie/adminservices/healthsafety/Pages/AccidentIncidentandNearMissReporting.as px
ACCIDENT an undesired event or sequence of events causing injury, ill-health or property damage. NEAR MISS near misses describe incidents where, given a slight shift in time or distance, injury, illhealth or damage easily could have occurred, but didn?t this round. INCIDENT an incident is an unplanned, undesired event that hinders completion of a task and may cause injury or other damage.

http://nonprofitrisk.org/tools/workplace-safety/nonprofit/c2/acc-inc-nm.htm 1.1 An accident The Health and Safety Executive define an accident as any unplanned event that resulted in injury or ill health of people, or damage or loss to property, plant, materials or the environment or a loss of business opportunity. Example: A builder dropping a brick from a height, which caused injury to a person underneath, would be classed as an accident. 1.2 Near miss A near miss can be defined as, any event, which under slightly different circumstances, may have resulted in injury or ill health of people, or damage or loss to property, plant, materials or the environment or a loss of business opportunity. Example: A builder dropping a brick from a height, which just missed a person standing underneath, would be classed as a near-miss incident. This incident did not cause an injury to a person but, under slightly different circumstances (the person standing nearer to the contact point) the person may have been injured. 1.3 Dangerous occurrence A dangerous occurrence can be defined as,any incident that has a high potential to cause death or serious injury and are specified by the Reporting of Incidents, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. 1.4 Environmental incidents and miscellaneous incidents. Anything untoward such as threatening behaviour, physical violence, work related road traffic accident, leaks, odours etc. should also be reported. These may have underlying implications that impact on Safety, Health and the Environment. 1.5 Incidents

For the purpose of this procedure, where the term Incident appears, this incorporates elements from 1.1 - 1.4
Cardiff University OSHEU Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Unit

http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/osheu/toolkit/incindex.html