In his well-known iceberg model, Heinrich claimed that identical causes preceded minor and major injuries. Against the previous hypotheses Petersen has claimed that different circumstances produced minor and major injuries. These competing hypotheses were examined by comparing fatal occupational accidents with non-fatal accidents. The data consist of 99 serious occupational accidents in which 20 had fatal consequences. A work place analysis and an accident analysis were done at the accident site. Fatal accidents differed both in the type of accident and the distribution of accident factors from non-fatal accidents. The results supported Petersen's different causation hypothesis more than Heinrich's identical causation hypothesis. (Author/publisher)
Abstract