Accident
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2008-07-15T18:27:38Z
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{{for|alternate meanings|Accident (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:Partial stadium collapse at Big12 college football championship - 2005.JPG|right|thumb|A [[railing]] accidentally collapses at a [[college football]] game, spilling [[fan (aficionado)|fan]]s onto the sidelines]]
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:RoadAccident.jpg|thumb|A road accident at Kerala, India]] -->
An '''accident''' is a specific, identifiable, unexpected, unusual and unintended external [[Event (philosophy)|event]] which occurs in a particular time and place, without apparent or deliberate cause but with marked effects. It implies a generally negative [[probabilism|probabilistic]] outcome which may have been avoided or prevented had [[Attendant circumstance|circumstances]] leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occurrence.
Narrowly defined, the designation may refer only to the event, while not including the circumstances ([[fact|facts]] surrounding) or [[result|results]] of the event; i.e., ‘accident’ is [[Constraint (information theory)|constrained]] to an immediate incident, the occurrence of which results in an unplanned outcome. In common use, however, ‘accident’ may include the entire interacting circumstantial framework (chance, pre-existing, or uncontrolled dynamically developing conditions; commonplace actions; random time and place; participants; etc.) leading up to, including, and resulting from, the accident's immediate occurrence. Experts in the field of [[Injury prevention|injury prevention]] avoid use of the term "accident" because they look at these incidents from the perspective of [[Epidemiology|epidemiology]] - predictable and preventable.
Accidents of particularly common types (auto, fire, etc.) are investigated to identify how to avoid them in the future. This is sometimes called [[Root cause analysis|root cause analysis]], but does not generally apply to accidents that cannot be [[Determinism|deterministically]] predicted. For example, a [[Root cause|root cause]] of an uncommon and purely [[random|random]] accident may never be identified, and thus future [[Similarity|similar]] accidents remain "accidental."
Physical examples include, e.g., unintended collisions or falls, being injured by touching something sharp, hot, or electrical, or ingesting poison. Non-physical examples are, e.g, unintentionally revealing a [[Secrecy|secret]] or otherwise saying something incorrectly, forgetting an appointment, etc.
The informal term "freak accident" typically refers to an unfortunate and improbable event that seems exceedingly unlikely to happen by chance. In extreme contexts, the term may also imply doubt, ambiguity or suspicion about an accident event's cause.
[[Colloquialism|Colloquially]] considered negative, 'happy' accidents with positive results are also possible.
The [[injury prevention]] community strongly discourages use of the word "accident" to describe events that cause injury in attempt to highlight the predictable and preventable nature of most injuries. Preferred words are more descriptive of the event itself rather than of its unintentional nature (e.g., [[crash]], [[collision]], [[incident]], [[drowning]], [[fall]], etc.)
== See also ==
* [[Accident proneness]]
*[[Air safety]]
** [[Accidents and incidents in aviation]]
** [[List of aircraft accidents]]
* [[Aisle#Safety and regulatory considerations|Aisles: Safety and regulatory considerations]]
* Bike
** [[Bike accident]]
** [[Bicycle safety]]
* Car
** [[Car accident]]
** [[Car safety]]
* [[Explosives safety]]
* [[List of rail accidents]]
* [[List of nuclear accidents]]
* [[Risk management]]
* [[Road safety]]
* [[Sailing ship]]
** [[Sailing ship accidents]]
* [[Safety]]
* [[Safety engineering]]
** [[fail-safe]]
** [[fail-secure]]
** [[Poka-yoke]]
* [[Swiss Cheese model]]
*[[Tram accident]]
* [[Work accident]]
* [[Workplace safety]]
** [[Material safety data sheet]]
** [[Protective clothing]]
**[[Occupational health and safety]]
**[[Criticality accident]]
*[[Accident Analysis]]
== External links ==
* [http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/transport/care/index_en.htm Community database on Accidents on the Roads in Europe] (CARE)
* [http://www.gotsafety.org GotSafety] (Safety Tips and Information)
* [http://www.car-accidents.com Car-Accidents.com] (Thousands of Photos, and Info on Types of Accidents.)
{{Inappropriate tone|date=December 2007}}
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[[Category:Failure]]
[[Category:Risk analysis]]
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