Injury Analysis
What is the Direct Cause of Injury?
In a comprehensive accident report, you'll be asked to determine the direct cause of the worker's injury.
It's important to understand the nature of the cause that resulted in the injury so that you can write and clearly describe what directly caused the injury in terms of a "cause and effect" relationship. The cause in the cause-effect relationship is always the harmful transfer of energy. The effect in the cause-effect relationship is the injury.
Let's look at some examples that illustrate this important principle.
- If Bob falls off a ladder and hits the ground so hard that it fractures his lower leg, the direct cause of injury is the transfer of excessive kinetic energy (the cause) that breaks the leg bone (the effect).
- A harsh acid splashes on Brenda's face causing a serious burn. The direct cause of Brenda's injury is the harmful chemical reaction (the cause) as energy is transferred from the acid to her skin causing the burn (the effect).
As you can see, in each example above, we identify some form of harmful energy transfer that results in an injury. And, simply put, that's how you describe the direct cause of an injury. If you don't describe the type of energy transfer involved and resulting injury, you're not writing an adequate statement.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
6-3. The direct cause of an injury will always be _____.
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