Accident prevention in a contextual approach

Many recommendations on how to establish an accident prevention program do exist. The aim of many agencies is to promote the implementation of these recommendations in enterprises. The discussion has mainly focused on incentives either in the form of an effective enforcement of the law or as a focus on developing the insurance system to establish (economic) motivation. This paper suggests a more elaborated theoretical approach emphasising a differentiated understanding of the external and internal actors and how these relations form the actions of the actors. The theoretical components of such a contextual approach is shortly described and demonstrated in relation to a Danish case on accident prevention. It is concluded that the approach presently offers a post-ante, descriptive analytical understanding, and it is argued that it can be developed to a frame of reference for planning actions and programs on accident prevention.