Transcript BLR’s Safety Training Presentations

Accident Investigation
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Session Objectives
You will be able to:
• Understand your role in the investigation
process
• Gather facts
• Talk to witnesses
• Determine causal factors
• Identify corrective actions
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Why Investigate
Accidents?
• Determine the root cause
• Identify corrective actions
• Prevent the accident from happening again
• Document the accident
• Complete OSHA-required reporting
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
OSHA Wants to Know
• Employee fatality—notify OSHA in 8 hours
• Employee hospitalized, amputation, or eye
loss—notify OSHA within 24 hours
• Document each injury
• Record injuries on OSHA 300 Log
• Post OSHA 300 Log
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
You Have Key Roles
• Report any accident or near-miss
immediately
• As a witness, describe what you observed
• Provide your knowledge of normal operating
practices in the situation
• Suggest corrective actions
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Accident Investigation
Team
• Employees trained to
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•
investigate accidents
Safety committee
member
Supervisor
Safety manager
Production manager
Plant manager
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Investigator’s
Qualifications
• Understand important role of accident
investigation
• Have authority and accountability
• Have skills to evaluate the incident
• Communicate details
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Why Investigate and Your
Role—Any Questions
• Any questions about
why we need to
investigate accidents
or your role in the
investigation process?
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Investigate All Accidents
• Workplace fatality
• Lost time from the job
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or days away from
work
Restricted ability to
work
Medical treatment
First aid
Near-miss incidents
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
When to Investigate?
• Immediately after
incident
• Interview witnesses
before memories fade
• Assess the scene
before clues are
moved
• Finish investigation
quickly
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Accident Investigation Is
Like a Police Investigation
• Check the scene
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•
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•
before anything has
been moved
Assemble evidence
Interview the witnesses
Not looking for a
criminal; not trying to
place blame on anyone
Find what, why, and
how
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
The Accident Occurs
• Employee immediately reports the accident
to a supervisor
• Supervisor treats the injury or assesses
need for outside medical treatment
• Accident scene is left intact
• Supervisor contacts the accident
investigation team
• If able, injured employee completes incident
form
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Beginning the Investigation
• Get the investigation kit
• Team reports to the
scene
• Look at the big
picture
• Record initial
observations
• Take pictures
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Investigation Kit
• Camera
• Report forms,
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clipboard, pens
Barricade tape
Flashlight
Tape measure
Tape recorder
Work gloves
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Any Questions?
• Any questions about
what and when to
investigate or the
investigation kit?
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Questions that Need
Answers
• What happened?
• When did it happen?
• Where did it happen?
• Who was involved?
• How did it happen?
• Why did it happen?
• How can we keep it
from happening again?
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Fact Gathering
• Name of injured and
involved employees
• Name of witnesses
• Date and time of the
incident
• Work shift information
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Fact Gathering (cont.)
• General location of the incident
• Specific location of involved employees
• Normal job duties and training
• Type of injury and body part injured
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Fact Gathering (cont.)
• Machines, tools, or
equipment
• Chemicals involved
• Environmental
conditions
• Production schedule
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Interviewing Witnesses
• Interview witnesses one at a time
• Convey your desire to prevent accidents
• Encourage witness to describe the accident
in his or her own words
• Discuss what happened leading up to and
after the accident
• Use open-ended questions
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Sequence of Events
• Events leading up to
the incident
• Describe events of the
incident
• Events that happened
immediately after the
incident
• Draw a chart of the
events
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Incident Description
• Details so reader can
clearly picture the
incident
• Specific body parts
affected
• Specific motions of
injured employee just
before, during, and
after incident
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Any Questions?
• Any questions about
gathering facts,
interviewing witnesses,
or describing the
incident?
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Causal Factors
• Try not to accept single cause theory
• Identify underlying causes
• Primary cause
• Secondary causes
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Corrective Actions
• Immediate corrective actions
• Recommended corrective actions
• Employee training
• Preventive maintenance activities
• Better job procedures
• Hazard recognition
• Engineering or administrative changes
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Completed Report
• Signed by investigation
team members
• Signed by injured
employee
• Forwarded to
management
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Causes and Corrective
Actions—Any Questions?
• Any questions about
finding causal factors
or implementing
corrective actions?
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501
Key Points to Remember
• Accident investigations prevent other
accidents
• Investigate accidents immediately
• Gather all the facts
• Interview witnesses one at a time
• Record detailed description
• Determine causal factors
• Conduct corrective actions
© BLR®—Business & Legal Resources 1501