Incident investigation as a loss control tool
An accident is defined as "an undesired, unplanned event resulting in physical injury or damage to property." A near-miss is defined as "an event that doesn’t result in injury or damage but has the potential to do so."
Understanding and investigating the cause of accidents and/or near-misses are essential components of a comprehensive accident-prevention program. If an effective accident investigation is conducted, lessons can be learned, and similar incidents can be avoided in the future.
Five basic elements of an effective accident investigation program
- Immediately reporting all accidents is vital for your company to have an effective accident-investigation program. An accident should be reported before it can be investigated. Any delay in reporting an accident may hinder the investigation because evidence at the scene of the accident can become disturbed and witnesses' memories can fade over time. Encourage all employees to report all injuries or near-miss events promptly.
- Creating an effective incident reporting form helps ensure proper information is collected during the investigation. Employees should receive training and ongoing support to understand the reporting process.
- Assigning accident-investigation responsibilities helps ensure the accident investigation is conducted by someone who’s knowledgeable in the business and understands accident prevention. It also helps ensure all necessary personnel engage in obtaining all important information.
- Determining the root cause(s) is one of the most critical elements of an effective accident investigation. Also known as Root Cause Analysis (RCA), this element requires the investigator to not just look for the direct cause of the accident, but to dig a little deeper and look beyond the employee who was "not paying attention," to see if there are other reasons/causes for the incident. Using RCA, the investigator will be in fact-finding mode, instead of the typical "fault-finding mode." This can be done as a collaborative process with several employees such as a safety committee.
- Identifying and ensuring the completion of corrective actions is vital to preventing repeat accidents and helping employees feel safe and respected within your organization. The worst thing that can happen when trying to establish a safety culture is to conduct the accident investigation and not complete the corrective actions or not ensure they stay in place. This is why it’s important to assign responsibility for corrective actions and to track the progress of their completion.
Conclusion
The purpose of an accident-investigation program is to identify the underlying causes of accidents and near misses, rather than to assign blame. By understanding what led to an incident, companies can implement measures to prevent similar events in the future. This process helps to enhance workplace safety, prevent recurrence, improve processes, and foster a safety culture. By following these five elements, you can reduce the likelihood of recurrence and create a safer workplace for everyone.
Additional resources
- Incident Investigation: Comprehensive Guide to Workplace Safety. This guide covers the importance of incident investigation, key principles, steps in the investigation process, and best practices for effective investigations.
- Effective Incident Investigations. This article from Safety+Health magazine discusses the importance of timely investigations, looking beyond immediate causes, and updating training and procedures based on investigation findings.
- Incident Investigation - Overview. OSHA provides an overview of incident investigation, emphasizing the identification of hazards and shortcomings in safety and health programs.
- Root Cause: The Importance of Root Cause Analysis During Incident Investigation, (OSHA fact sheet, 2016). This fact sheet provides guidance for identifying root causes of incidents and/or near misses in order to prevent their recurrence.
- Incident [Accident] Investigations: A Guide for Employers, (OSHA, 2015). This guidance document provides employers with a systems approach to identifying and controlling the underlying or root causes of all incidents in order to prevent their recurrence.
- Accident Investigation Basics, (Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, 2009). This PowerPoint-based online training module provides an overview on conducting root-cause workplace incident investigations.
