Theory and testing of an accident risk assessment system based on prior experience

OBJECTIVES: to improve the "National Project: Integrated investigations for an in-depth analysis of cases of Fatal Accidents", a project which, on one hand, is too open to interpretation of events, while, on the other, does not offer the possibility to analyse external factors which are often at the basis of accidents in the workplace. METHODS: identification and weighting criteria regarding causes of accident have been established and correlated by means of a specific algorithm, with the aim of making them numerically measurable. This has made it possible to use them as indicators to identify lines of priority in prevention planning. The theoretical model has been tested in an analysis of 35 work accidents which occurred in a firm in Mantova. RESULTS: the model has been evaluated in comparison to the analysis which was previously used to examine cases of workrelated accidents and it has proved to be more efficient in the move towards establishing preventative action at the beginning of a chain of events. CONCLUSIONS: While maintaining the "Learning from mistakes" model, the method here proposed represents an extension and an implementation of previous practices. It is an effective operative method for companies, offering both a qualitative and quantitative analysis of work-related accidents with a view to their prevention.