In the domino model, removing which domino would prevent an accident?

• A. Middle unsaved act domino
• B. Final injury domino
• C. Unsaved act domino at the end
• D. Safety domino

Answer: (A)

In the domino model of accident causation, an accident happens when a sequence of dominos falls: social environment and inherited traits, fault of the person, unsafe act or condition, accident, and injury. Prevention aims to interrupt this chain before the accident occurs. The middle domino, which represents the unsafe act or condition, is the best point to intervene because removing it stops the cascade before the accident domino falls. Without that unsafe act, the accident and the injury never happen. Removing the final injury domino would only prevent injury after the fact, not stop the accident itself. An unsaved-act domino toward the end is still part of the cascade, so removing it isn’t as effective as removing the actual trigger in the middle. The safety domino isn’t a standard link in the diagram, so removing it doesn’t align with stopping the chain.