Safety Manny's Safety Talks #2

Accident, Mishap, or Incident?

What's the Difference, and Why It's Important

Introduction

I’m sure you all are intrigued by the question asked in the title of this article, and probably even more curious about why the picture on the front includes an “obvious” safety hazard. I mean “why would anyone choose to ride a motorcycle that way?” They are just asking for an “accident” to happen.

?Nobody says they were in an automobile “mishap” nor does anybody realistically approach their lack of control and observation as a mishap. It is always going to be a car accident, a hiking accident, a motorcycle accident, not to mention, if you “accidentally” push someone, bump into them, trip them, etc. And yes, it can go both ways. It’s not just what happens to you, but what happens to others by you.

So, what’s the big deal anyway? Why does it matter what we call the situation? Why is this a reason for actions that go array? Why do people feel the need to deflect responsibility? What does this say about us, and what does this say about our Safety Culture?

What is an Accident…Really?

Definition

Oxford Dictionary –

• An unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.
• ?An event that happens by chance or that is without apparent or deliberate cause.

Analysis

“Ooops, I spilled the milk. What a terrible accident.” Granted, nobody is actually saying those specific words, but when we explain the incident to others, that is likely the verbiage we would use. An accident, taken from the Latin verb accidere which basically means, to fall, we have turned it into our most prized excuse for anything going wrong.

Yes, of course it’s unfortunate, and unexpected, and most importantly, unintentional, but does that take away accountability or preventability? The second definition by Oxford points out “by chance” which I think is what we all are basing accidents on; some random event that just happened upon us at a random time in a random fashion by some random circumstances. If this is the way muscle strains happen, I feel like I would be just as lucky to win the lottery. Then again, I haven’t won the lottery yet, so there is still a chance!

I think the key component in the definition is that these incidents happen “without apparent or deliberate cause.” It is possible that without an explanation of “why” or “how” something happened, we gradually began to accept over time that there was nothing we could do and adopted the term “accident”

What is a Mishap?

Definition

Cambridge Dictionary –

• Bad luck, or an unlucky event or accident.
• ?American – An accident or unlucky event.

Analysis

You may have noticed the word accident was used in the definition of mishap. Does that mean that the words are interchangeable? When I was doing this research, I was stunned to see the same definition across several sources. Nearly all of them refer to an accident. “Well, that’s it, not even enough to write about.” They are the same. Except…

Mishap as a word may be a synonym for accident, but isn’t it short for something? Maybe mis-happening or bad happening? The prefix “mis” is common enough for us all to put our own definition onto any word to make is “bad.” Miscommunication, misconduct, misinformed, the list goes on.

The “hap” part of the word is a little more presumptuous. We will assume it is merely a shortened version of “happening” and that does make sense. If we have a blunder, it could easily be called a mishappening; yes, unintended, and yes, a bad situation, and yes, it actually happened. ?

Unfortunately, my trek toward wordsmithing brought me to a halt here. The “hap” in the word mishap means “luck.” Thank you, communicators of the Old Norse. We now have a combined word that literally means “bad luck” And I am yet again in the scenario of Accident and Mishap being the same thing; an event of misfortune that has no accountability except that of chance.

What is an Incident?

Definition - Merriam Webster:

• noun a.: an occurrence of an action or situation that is a separate unit of experience : HAPPENING | b.: an accompanying minor occurrence or condition : CONCOMITANT
• : an action likely to lead to grave consequences especially in diplomatic matters?| a serious border incident
• : something dependent on or subordinate to something else of greater or principal importance
• adjective : occurring or likely to occur especially as a minor consequence or accompaniment | the confusion incident to moving day
• : dependent on or relating to another thing in law
• : falling or striking on something | incident light rays

Analysis

Pay Dirt! If you notice, even in the first definition by noun, an incident is an action by experience, or a condition. Then in the second “an action likely to lead to grave consequences. Most people would probably not even think about this, but as we have discussed, Words Matter, and even on a sub-conscious level, it may make a difference when impacting employees in the workplace.

As an adjective, “dependent on or relating to another thing…” This leads me to believe that an “Incident” is something that inherently relies on something else to happen, and when it happens, there will be consequences. Whether the consequences are positive or negative, the impact of the word leads us to believe there will be an outcome based on an action or condition.

Why is the “Word” Important?

Words mean something, or at least that’s what I thought. I never really cared too much when I was younger. I was like tomato tomáto. Same same. Then one day, early in my career an instructor put out to the class that there was a difference between Accident and Mishap. Now I may be mistaken, but he said to erase the term “accident” out of my head and to use the word “mishap.” He explained that an accident defers responsible action and therefore held no accountability for self. This thought process has haunted me through my career; not in a bad way, it literally popped up in my mind every time someone used the term “accident.”

It totally made sense. Of course, only when you are looking at the definition of a mishap as a mis “happening.” In this case, I think my instructor also had the same definition of mishap because it puts emphasis on an incident “happening,” and not just because of chance. It allows us to explore the root cause of a happening and gives us a tangible problem to resolve.

The word “Incident” on the other hand, is a similar word with a gravitating definition and impact. An incident eliminates the scapegoat where everything was out of one’s control. It suggests that experience and action take place when it happens. If I slip and fall, it may be unintentional, but in reality, it was preventable, and to take it further, it was preventable by me. I know, it’s hard to believe I could have paid attention to where I was walking, therefore preventing a fall.

Critical Thinking

So why bring it up at all? The answer is simple, WORDS MATTER. The way we use the words mean something, and the setting in which we use the words mean something.

Articles up to wazoo have been written, studies documented, and books published on how words can be painful, uplifting, and impressive, so why would this not be so when it comes to an investigation of an incident? My thoughts on the word “Accident” are more biased with the Oxford definition; although, the word may infer that an action was unintentional, it will most certainly result in damage or injury. In American English, the impression of an accident is that it is unintentional, therefore, we can defer the fault to some outside source.

We do this in the investigation of incidents as well. How do we “dummy-proof” this contraption so nobody will have an accident? Almost as if we are implying people have no control over hurting themselves. One of the most common responses people have when an incident occurs is that it was an accident, or I didn’t mean to. Psychologically speaking, if the way words are used affect our feelings, then the term accident would most likely defer blame.

This makes sense because why would any of us feel the need to say it was an accident; under normal circumstances we can assume that one didn’t mean to hurt themselves, hurt others, or cause property damage, yet we still feel the need to deflect blame.

Then, What’s the Point?

Change in Terminology

By changing the words, we can transform the way we feel about certain things in life. Just like using pronouns or adverbs affect the way people feel or respond to words, the actual word itself can make a difference. When you hear “prize” or “treasure,” which one do you want more? What sounds more sophisticated, beer or ale?

Changing key words in our speech may be difficult, but think about it for a moment. If you do not use curse words, it may be easy for you to speak in a forum without slipping up, but if you are a regular “Sailor,” you may have a hard time speaking in normal conversation without cussing up a storm. While driving, you can tell who does not use their blinker regularly, because they are the ones who do not use it when they cut you off on the highway. If they used their blinkers all the time, even when there is nobody behind them, they would not miss a beat when there is traffic around.

That being said, it only makes sense. If you make yourself habitual at using certain terms, then it will become regular practice in everyday use. In addition to changing your own habit, you will also change the way your employees look at “Incidents,” which can contribute to more ownership, which can lead to a better safety culture and less incidents.

In addition to the pre-fore-mentioned benefits, you may also find more reporting, and more details given by employees when investigating safety incidents. This may lead to more data points and eventually help in leading indicators and effective safety campaigns.

We All Know Accidents are Unintentional

Of course, we as Safety Professionals all know accidents are unintentional, we also know they are preventable or treatable. However, we cannot assume people that work for our companies are as knowledgeable. We should not assume they feel the same way.

Take my situation of falling for example. I probably don’t realize that every time I do not trip and fall, I am preventing an incident from occurring. then, when I do trip and fall, I curse myself for not paying attention. When it’s broken down like that, it’s hard to argue that every step I take, I am actually preventing a fall incident. And of course, there are those “almost fell” moments a.k.a. “near miss” situations. But that is a topic for another article or newsletter.

I hope this has been entertaining and educational.

Until next month, Stay Safe, Be Safe, Act Safe.

Written by: Manny Virata, CSP

(Author, Safety Consultant, Instructor, and Trainer)

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