[Household accidents in an occupationally integrated urban community]

A 42-item questionnaire was used to interview 300 urban residents (working in two chemical plants) who suffered household accidents over the last two years. The main target was to identify the actual causes of these accidents. Findings suggest that accident-producing dysfunctions in the "Man--Non-Professional Environment" system were basically due to particular personal variables such as false mental models of success and lack of risk anticipation from underestimation of task-oriented gestures, prosexis deficit through lack of awareness, rigid work stereotypes and lack of safety constraints. The authors discuss the necessity of a systematic, adaptable educational programme.