Understanding global security - Peter Hough

ACCIDENTAL THREATS TO SECURITY
scale. The International Labour Organization (ILO) have estimated that over a third
of a million people a year in the world are killed in occupational accidents (including
traffic accidents while working) (ILO 2002). If deaths when commuting to or from
work and by illness caused at work are included, the figure rises to over 1.1 million
(Takala 1998).
Personal injury
In addition to risks encountered while travelling, working and congregating in public
buildings, people increasingly face risks to their lives at home. Electrical appliances
and cooking facilities characteristic of modern living present another component of
‘everyday danger’ confronting an ever-increasing proportion of the world’s population.
Over one-third of all fatal accidents in the UK occur at home, including an
average of one death per week from falling off ladders (DTI 2003). Table 9.4 lists the
most prominent causes of accidental death across all of the categories and it is clear
that many of these result from personal, domestic activities. Fires caused by deepfat
fryers and children drowning in ponds and other similar events account for a large
proportion of the figures indicated. Again, domestic safety legislation has served
to improve safety in the home but there is an observable tendency to accept the
possibility of such ‘mundane’ ways to die.
Table 9.4 The top causes of accidental death
Form of accident
Annual deaths
Road traffic injuries 1 194 000
Drowning 403 000
Falls 385 000
Poisoning 343 000
Fires 309 000
Others a 874 000
Note: a ‘Others’ include exposure to animate and inanimate mechanical forces (including firearms);
exposure to electric current, radiation and extreme ambient temperature and pressure, and to
forces of nature; and contact with heat and hot substances, and venomous plants and animals (McGee
2003).
Source: WHO (2002b: 190).
The collateral damage of industrialization?
The rise of accidental threats
Deaths by accident are very much a feature of the modern world. There have, of
course, always been accidental deaths but this form of threat to human life is closely
associated with technological development and has risen in accord with industrialization
and the onset of modernity. In fact it is possible to argue that accidents,
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