Accident investigation why

Working on moving equipment. Improper use of equipment. Failure to wear personal protective equipment. Wearing an unsafe clothing Working in an unsafe position. Unsafe speeding during driving. Unsafe conditions such as Hazardous arrangement. Poor housekeeping Unsafe guarding. Public hazards. Slippery floor. Unsafe workplace. Defective designs. Underlying root causes such as Failure to supervise workers during work.

Failure to carry out a proper risk assessment in the workplace. Lack of equipment maintenance. Failure to provide PPE regularly to workers.

To determine the cost of an accident. Such can be direct or indirect cost. The direct cost of an accident include First aid cost is given to the injured worker. Sick pay to the injured worker. Damaged product or equipment. Cost from lost production time while dealing with the injured worker. Cost from the overtime to make up for the lost time resulting from the accident.

Compensation is given to the accident victim. Court fines if the employer is found wanting as a result of the accident. Indirect cost such as loss of reputation from the public resulting in a bad image for the company.

There could be a loss of goodwill from the customers when the company failed to meet up with their deadline resulting from an accident. Cost of training a new worker for replacement. Staff morale could be affected as a result of the accident. This could trickle down to affecting the overall productivity in the workplace. A root cause analysis allows an employer to discover the underlying or systemic, rather than the generalized or immediate, causes of an incident. Correcting only an immediate cause may eliminate a symptom of a problem, but not the problem itself.

That is because the occurrence of a safety incident is a clear indication of a workplace hazard, and a failure to abate this hazard potentially means your company is no longer furnishing employees with a workplace with recognized hazards, as a full and proper root cause investigation would have uncovered the direct cause of this hazard.

Anyone with an understanding of OSHA rules, regulations, and interpretations, will understand this is often the case, as OSHA will always err on the site of caution for employee protection. This 5 Why Method Training will explain the basics of how to conduct a root cause analysis using the 5 Why method. Any interim or temporary precautions should also be noted. Pending corrective action and reason for delaying its implementation should be identified.

Corrective action should be identified in terms of how it will prevent a recurrence of the accident or near miss and how it will improve overall operation. This will assist in selling solutions to management. The solution should be a means of achieving accident control and total operation control.

The safety committee should review investigations of all accidents and near miss incidents to assist in recommending appropriate corrective actions to prevent a similar recurrence. Thorough investigation of all accidents and near misses will help you identify causes and needed corrections, and can help you determine why accidents occur, where they happen, and any accident trends.

Such information is critical to preventing and controlling hazards and potential accidents. Accident Investigation Form Link. Fraud Prevention Tool: Keep in mind that properly completed investigations can later serve as tools in fraud prevention as well. It is unclear which case will be considered fraud and which one will end up in litigation.

Statements noted at the scene of the accident carry sufficient evidentiary weight in legal situations. Forms that are normally and customarily completed by corporations are admissible evidence and statements given immediately after an accident or incident are admissible as well. Age: Noting the age, at times, helps us determine if the injury that occurred to anolder person involved strenuous work activity. You may have to provide training, engineering controls to prevent the injury from reoccurring.

At times, you may need to reassign the person to another job function temporarily. However, many times the employee reports an accident much later than its occurrence. It could be genuine, i. However, it may be that a personal injury at home or during recreational activities is being attributed to workplace injury.

Record the facts now; it may help your case later. Equipment Being Operated: Was the employee trained in its use? Is the equipment new? Was the equipment damaged or in need of repair? Is the equipment being used for the task it has been provided for? A successful accident investigation team should include members from all levels of management and production. For example:.

Although not all these people would necessarily be actively involved in carrying out the investigation, they would likely all need to be kept informed of the progress and results of the investigation.

The investigation team must be trained to ensure a competent investigation. Investigation team members should:.