Types and Classifications of Accidents
In a broader sense, there are only two types of accidents: accidents without injuries and accidents with injuries (which include damages too). For a safety professional, an accident remains the same, though the result may differ. There will be no end to a debate if you continue to take up this topic seriously.
For administrative reasons, there can be industrial accidents, construction accidents, maritime accidents, road accidents, accidents at schools, forest accidents, desert accidents, accidents at public places, homes, and so on. Like some politicians, if you start talking nonsense about kinds and classifications of accidents, it will be never-ending. To end such nonsense, in 1962, the Tenth International Conference of Labor Statisticians, convened by the ILO, recommended that for the study of circumstances surrounding industrial accidents, these accidents should be classified as follows:
Classification of Industrial Accidents
A. Classification According to the Type of Accident
1. Fall of Persons
2. Struck by falling objects
3. Stepping on, striking against, or struck by objects excluding falling objects
4. Caught in or between objects
5. Overexertion or strenuous movements
6. Exposure to or contact with extreme temperature
7. Exposure to or contact with electric current
8. Exposure to or contact with harmful substances or radiation
9. Other types of accidents, not elsewhere classified, including accidents not classified for lack of sufficient data.
B. Classification According to Agency
C. Classification According to Other Equipment
D. Classification According to Materials, Substances, and Radiation
E. Classification According to the Nature of Injury
F. Classification According to the Bodily Location of the Injury
This multiple classification system takes into account that an accident is rarely due to a single factor but is generally the result of a concurrence of factors. The type of accident classification identifies the event which directly resulted in the injury; it indicates how the object or substance causing the injury entered into contact with the injured person and is often regarded as the key to analysis problems. The classification according to the agency may be used for classifying either the agency related to the injury or the agency related to the accident. Obviously, more information can be obtained if industrial accidents are classified according to both concepts; however, for accident prevention purposes, the classification according to the agency is more important. The classification according to the nature and bodily location of the injury is designed to provide the necessary information for a detailed analysis.
Based on the ILO classification, Indian standards also have the classification per IS 3786 - 1983 Methods For Computation Of Frequency And Severity Rates For Industrial Injuries And Classification of Industrial Accidents.
There are many useful classifications if you are a student in the field.
Hope you got what you asked for.
Regards,
Kesava Pillai