Incident Investigation Overview
OSHA advocates that employers thoroughly investigate employee incidents in which a worker may have been injured and “close calls” where a worker could have possibly harmed if the conditions had been different. This process is commonly referred to as an “incident investigation”. In the past, terminology such as “accident” was customarily implemented when referring to unexpected and unwarranted situations, implying it was spontaneous and unpreventable. Nevertheless, nearly all fatalities, injuries, and illness in the workplace are preventable so OSHA puts great emphasis on using the term “incident investigation”.
Investigating a Worksite Incident
An incident investigation is an essential part of a company’s commitment to health and safety. It can provide crucial information on the causes of an accident or close call that could have led to an injury, illness, death, or property damage. Through this process, employers and workers gain insight into their workplace operations and safety programs, allowing them to identify hazards and implement corrective actions to prevent future incidents.
Understanding the root causes of an incident is essential to avoiding future incidents. Incident investigations should concentrate on finding solutions to prevent it from recurring, not on assigning blame. An employer’s dedication to a secure and healthful workplace that looks into incidents like these can result in improved worker morale and increased productivity.
Successful incident investigations require collaboration between supervisors, managers, and employees. Each group brings unique skills and perspectives to the process. Working together maximizes the investigation’s effectiveness as each party has different knowledge and understanding of the incident at hand.
When conducting an incident investigation, it’s important to look beyond the immediate causes of the incident. Carelessness or the failure to properly follow a procedure might be contributing factors, but they are usually not the only ones. To get a fuller understanding of why the incident occurred, it is necessary to uncover any underlying or root causes. By asking why previously unresolved problems existed, it is possible to identify systemic changes and measures needed to prevent future incidents from occurring.
Conclusion
Incident investigation is the process of gathering evidence to understand why an incident occurred and identify ways to prevent it from happening again. Investigation into an incident may involve asking questions such as: why a procedure or safety rule was not followed, if production pressures played a role, if the procedure was out-of-date or safety training inadequate, and whether the problem had been previously identified and addressed.
A comprehensive incident investigation is essential to identify and correct any and all safety or health program deficiencies and other factors related to the incident, such as staffing, equipment, procedural and training issues.
Incident investigation is an important process for understanding why an incident has occurred, developing effective corrective actions to prevent future occurrences, and limiting any serious consequences from similar incidents in the future. The method of addressing the root cause behind an incident provides necessary insights into its origin and allows organizations to work towards lasting prevention.
Additional Resources
Are you looking for more resources to help employers and workers with incident investigation and developing corrective action plans? The OSHA Fact Sheet entitled “Root Cause: The Importance of Root Cause Analysis During Incident Investigation” (2016) can provide guidance on identifying root causes of incidents/near misses. Additionally, the OSHA document “Incident Investigations: A Guide for Employers” (2015) will help employers follow a systems approach to identifying and controlling root causes of incidents to prevent their recurrence. National Safety Council’s “How to Conduct an Incident Investigation” (2014) provides brief guidance in four pages, and Washington State Department of Labor & Industries has PowerPoint-based online training module “Accident Investigation Basics” (2009).
