Human Resources Best Practices Guide by Staff One - HTML preview

WHAT TO DO AFTER A WORKPLACE ACCIDENT

Accidents happen, but there are important measures to take afterward that can help minimize the probability of the same type of incident happening again. Conducting a thorough accident investigation is essential in preventing a similar accident or injury in the future.

Identifying the contributing factors of an accident can greatly reduce the possibility of another loss. By finding the root cause of an accident, you can identify the steps needed to eliminate the hazard(s) contributing to the loss.

An accident report should be completed as soon as possible, so that the information is fresh and details are not forgotten. Accident investigation requires careful, accurate reporting. Avoid placing blame during the investigation; simply gather the facts and document them.

There are several keys to developing good investigative practices:

• Understand your role in the investigation process
• Gather facts
• Talk to witnesses
• Determine causal factors
• Identify corrective actions

It’s important to coordinate with anyone else who might be participating in the accident investigation, so you won’t duplicate efforts or muddy the waters.  It also is essential to establish who should be involved in an accident investigation before an incident occurs.

Follow these steps for a thorough accident investigation:

• Secure the scene. Keep it unchanged so you can accurately collect and document the facts. Take photographs and/or videos, make drawings, and take measurements as appropriate.
• Put everything in writing. Record only the facts – a detailed description of exactly what happened – not your interpretation of that information.
• Interviews should be conducted separately and confidentially. Let interviewees know why they’re being interviewed.
• Ask all interviewees the same questions. Ask open-ended questions, such as “Describe in your own words what happened,” or, “How was the machine operating?” Once you’ve gotten a complete and clear description of facts surrounding the incident, be sure to ask each interviewee his or her understanding of the safety procedures applicable to the accident. Conclude by asking if there is anything they’d like to add.

Once your interviews are complete, try to reenact the events leading up to the incident.  Be careful…you don’t want to injure someone else!

Determine immediate and underlying causes

There may be multiple causes for an accident involving equipment, environment, and people (procedures not understood or not followed) or management (allowed shortcuts). An immediate cause may be an unsafe condition like a mechanical failure, or it could be an unsafe action by an employee. The underlying cause could be poor machine maintenance, a missing machine guard, a crowded work area or a lack of training.

Implement solutions

Once an investigation is completed, solutions should be sought to prevent the accident from occurring again. Solutions may involve engineering controls, administrative controls, additional training, or increased communication between management and workers. Something as simple as a daily inspection of the work area for unsafe conditions or unsafe actions can greatly reduce risk.

Every workplace should have a clearly communicated and documented policy for reporting an accident and conducting a follow-up investigation. The policy should state to whom an unsafe condition should be reported, so that the hazard can be eliminated quickly.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) also requires documentation. Information must also be entered on the OSHA 300 Log. These documents must be available for OSHA if the agency inspects your workplace.