Warehouse safety isn’t just a policy or priority—it’s a culture.
Whether you’re managing a single warehouse or overseeing operations at a global organization, creating a culture of safety and accountability is essential to not only prevent accidents and protect your workforce, but also improve productivity.
One of the most influential frameworks in warehouse safety management that has stood the test of time (after all, it was first introduced in 1931) is Heinrich’s Triangle Theory, also known as the Accident Triangle or Safety Pyramid.
This theory provides a compelling idea about how near misses, minor incidents, and major accidents are interconnected. And it’s a tried and true way of thinking that can still be applied to modern day warehouse safety practices.
What is Heinrich's Triangle Theory?
At its core, Heinrich’s Triangle Theory illustrates the connection between different levels of workplace incidents. As Melody Moore, Director of EHS & Quality at Rinchem, explains on an episode of Warehouse Visionaries: “It shows the relationship between injuries, serious accidents, minor accidents, and the near misses.”
At the base of the triangle are near misses, which represent incidents with no immediate harm. Above them are minor incidents, which escalate into serious accidents at the top. This Safety Pyramid theorizes that reducing the frequency of near misses can significantly decrease the likelihood of serious accidents.
A Brief History of Heinrich’s Triangle Theory
The Accident Triangle is a behavior-based safety theory developed by H.W. Heinrich when he was an assistant superintendent working with an insurance company. Through an extensive study of 75,000 industrial accident cases, he proposed that there is a link between near misses, minor injuries, and major accidents.
He drew the conclusion that by reducing the number of minor accidents, there would be a correlating decrease in the number of major accidents. This relationship is often depicted in the form of a triangle, hence the “accident triangle”:
But you can also think of it like dominoes.
Heinrich compared accidents to a chain of falling dominoes. He proposed that workplace accidents result from a sequence of events, and if any one domino in the chain is removed, the accident can be prevented.
For example, removing an unsafe act or workplace condition can reduce the chances of an accident.
Here’s a breakdown of 5 findings from Heinrich’s study:
Prediction of Serious Incidents: Lower-severity events, such as near misses, can serve as indicators of potential future (and more fatal) accidents within the same workplace. So, if a warehouse experiences frequent near misses, it’s likely that a serious injury will eventually occur unless corrective action is taken.
Causes of Workplace Accidents: In his study of industrial accidents, Heinrich found that 88% of accidents were caused by unsafe behaviors, 10% by unsafe conditions, and, unfortunately, 2% were unavoidable or caused by “acts of God” (an insurance term–remember, he was an insuranceman–meaning an event was caused outside of human control). But overall, addressing human behavior is key for accident prevention.
Common Root Causes: Many accidents share similar root causes, often stemming from near miss events. Addressing these proactively with proper coaching and performing root cause anlyses can prevent more serious events.
Behavior-Based Safety (BBS): When employers focus on observing workers' actions, analyzing the reasons behind those actions, and applying data-driven employee coaching to improve behavior, they create a collaborative safety partnership between management and employees.
Involvement of All Employees: For a BBS program to succeed, it must involve everyone in the organization, from the CEO to associates on the floor. Lasting change requires the buy-in and support of all individuals involved in safety-related decision-making.
The Importance of Near Misses
Why should organizations focus on near misses?
“If you can reduce the number here at the bottom, then there will be a corresponding fall in the number of serious accidents,” explains Melody. “If you have 300 near misses, then you might have 30 minor incidents out of it, but out of those, at some point, you're going to have one major.”
Addressing near misses and leading indicators of MHE safety events is a proactive safety approach that can help resolve hidden warehouse safety hazards and prevent more severe accidents from occurring.
But You Can’t Solve Problems That You Can’t See
So how can you never miss an incident in your warehouses again (and eliminate the dreaded “I don’t know” feeling)?
One word: Visibility.
You need visibility into your people, processes, and product that only a Warehouse Operating System can provide. Since you can’t be everywhere at once, a WarehouseOS becomes your eyes on the floor 24/7, providing real-time, video-based alerts of every safety incident (and unsafe behaviors) in your warehouse.
So instead of spending hours cycling through grainy CCTV footage hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of an incident, you'll know exactly what happened–and more importantly, how it happened.
With complete warehouse visibility, you can finally understand the root causes of problems and actually fix them, hold people accountable, and drive the right behaviors throughout your organization.
At Rinchem, for instance, they use OneTrack’s WarehouseOS to improve warehouse safety.
“Having the cameras on our forklifts has really opened us up to view what's going on at a daily level,” Melody notes. The ability to “show a video of exactly how something happened” enhances training, proactively coaching associates and driving accountability to change unsafe behaviors.
The impact of visual data can’t be overstated. As Melody puts it, “A picture is worth a thousand words... It’s so much more powerful for employees to see where the breakdown occurred and understand how it could have been prevented.”
In the first 6 months alone after implementing in 2023, OneTrack had made a measurable impact on Rinchem’s warehouse operations, reducing overall safety events by 93%.
If you’re not sure where to start, forklift safety is often where our customers find initial success.
Check out the OneTrack Guide to Forklift Safety for more on how to build a video-based, data-driven forklift safety program.
Building a Culture of Reporting Near Misses
Encouraging employees to report near misses is also an important piece of warehouse safety.
But it requires a culture where workers feel empowered and safe to report incidents without fear of blame.
As Melody emphasizes, “Think outside of the box, do things that you need to do to really engage the employees because that's where the culture starts.”
For example, Rinchem uses a reporting system for near misses. “We made QR codes and an entire marketing campaign behind it... so employees could easily report near misses using their phones,” says Melody.
By simplifying the reporting process, Rinchem ensures that capturing near misses becomes part of everyday operations, creating a transparent and proactive safety culture.
Safety Practices That Everyone Can Get Behind
Safety policies can’t succeed without input from the people who implement them.
The real secret to creating a warehouse safety culture that sticks is by putting people over policy.
As Melody says, “If you don’t have the operational stakeholders, then the process is going to fail.” Collaboration is key: “It has to start at the level where the people are doing the work.”
By involving workers in the policymaking process, organizations not only gain valuable feedback but also build trust and accountability. Employees are more likely to embrace safety protocols when they’ve had a hand in shaping them.
The Broader Impact of Heinrich's Triangle Theory on Safety Culture
Heinrich’s Triangle Theory provides a clear and actionable framework for building safer workplaces by focusing on near misses to prevent accidents and cultivating a world-class safety culture.
But a world-class safety culture goes far beyond reducing incidents; it transforms how an entire organization operates
Melody points out that when employees feel involved and valued, they take ownership of safety practices. “When they feel that they had a say in how that new policy is going to be structured and written, they want to see it succeed,” she shares.
This sense of ownership fosters unity and responsibility across teams, ensuring that safety becomes a shared culture rather than a top-down mandate. “The culture has to be at an employee level where they're thinking, my safety matters, but the person who works next to me, their safety matters too,” says Melody.
Safety starts with each of us. By prioritizing awareness, collaboration, and innovation, we can ensure that every worker goes home safe at the end of the day.
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