What is a characteristic of a serious accident?

A serious accident is characterized by resulting in hospitalization or death of an individual. This highlights the severity of the incident and its impact on health and safety standards. Such outcomes indicate that the accident has significant consequences, both for the affected individual and potentially for the organization as a whole. Serious accidents often lead to investigations, regulatory scrutiny, and may invoke changes in workplace safety procedures to prevent future occurrences.

In contrast, other options either describe scenarios that do not inherently signal a serious accident or pertain to situations that do not fit the definition. For example, affecting multiple workers simultaneously does not automatically imply that the accident was serious; it may entail a range of injury severities. Similarly, involvement of a person not directly related to coal mining relates to the contextual factors of the accident, rather than its seriousness. Lastly, involving minor injuries does not constitute a serious accident by any standard, as serious accidents are defined by their severe outcomes.