Incident versus Accident

There are 2 most common definitions of incident and accident: 1) accident as a type of incident and 2) accident and incident as two different kinds of event.

1. Accident as a type of incident

An incident is defined as an unplanned event that resulted or could have resulted in personal injuries or illness and/or property damage. There are 2 sub-categories of incident: accident and near-miss. An accident is an incident that resulted in personal injuries or illness, whereas a near-miss is an incident that resulted or could have resulted in property damage but without personal injuries or illness.

2. Accident and incident as two different kinds of event

An accident is defined as an unplanned event that resulted in personal injuries or illness, whereas an incident can be a near-miss or an undesired circumstance. In an incident, personal injuries or illness could potentially but not actually happen however property damage may occur and the event was worthy of recording and reporting. 

In both definitions, incident and accident are unplanned and undesired, however the supported mindset is not the same. Accident supports the mindset that it could not have been prevented while incident does not. When an event is accepted as an accident, it has no clear causes and is expected to happen again which is opposite to what a HAZOP aims to do. When a HAZOP (hazard and operability study) is carried out, it aims to prevent incidents (or near-misses according to the first definition) from happening or reoccurring. 

A near-miss in both cases is a type of incident that did not resulted in personal injuries or illness, however if given a different set of conditions, it could have. A near-miss when left unnoticed can lead to an actual accident without proper preparation and prevention hence it is important to properly report every near-miss.

Therefore, despite the fact that incidents, accidents and near-misses may be defined differently from organisation to organisation, it is obvious that indentifying hazards, carrying out safety studies such as HAZOP or Job Hazard Analysis and investigating root causes of incidents and near-misses and  (JHA) are important steps in avoiding accidents, incidents and near-misses. All accidents, incidents and near-misses need to be reported and recorded for further investigation. Upper-management should acknowledge and educate workers on incidents and near-misses so that they will not go unnoticed and eventually lead to actual accidents.