Another article defending the work of H. W. Heinrich, Assistant Superintendent Engineering and Inspection Division, The Travelers Insurance Company. I feel the need to explain how many have misstated Heinrich’s Accident Pyramid in this article. His Accident Pyramid is probably his most famous piece of work and by far what most attribute to his work. But in recent years, his pyramid has been used as a flawed model; but these criticisms tend to distort what Heinrich was trying to say with his model. For me, although the numbers can vary wildly, the concept is as strong today as it was in the 1930s and for this to be developed in the 1920s and 30s was certainly ground-breaking work.
Fundamentally speaking, Heinrich was very clear that his pyramid model was about SIMILAR ACCIDENTs and not random unsafe acts, as many have attempted to portray it. In his 1941 book, Industrial Accident Prevention – A Scientific Approach, he made it clear that this model was looking at SIMILAR ACCIDENTS… (emphasis by me)
