Accident triangle

The triangle was first proposed by Herbert William Heinrich in 1931 and has since been updated and expanded upon by other writers, notably Frank E. Bird.

It is often shown pictorially as a triangle or pyramid and has been described as a cornerstone of 20th century workplace health and safety philosophy.

In recent times it has come under criticism over the values allocated to each category of accident and for focusing only on the reduction in minor injuries.

He commenced a study of more than 75,000 accident reports from the insurance company's files as well as records held by individual industry sites.

[6] Heinrich's triangle had a significant impact on health and safety culture in the 20th century but has recently been criticized.

A 2010 report relating to the oil and gas industry showed that the original values held true only when applied to a large dataset and a broad range of activities.