When an accident occurs, it should be fully investigated to determine and record the facts and root cause.听 Every safety program should include provisions for investigating accidents and training those who are responsible for the investigation.
By Will Flower
It is the call that every general manager dreads 鈥� a car collided with a collection vehicle and there are serious injuries.
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An emergency call like this will initiate a number of activities鈥攖he first of which is to make sure the injured are cared for. Second, steps should be taken to secure the accident scene so that there is no risk of additional injury or damage. And third, begin the accident investigation in an effort to determine and record what happened.
Record the Facts
The information collected during the investigation will allow managers to identify the need for repairs to equipment and point out areas where additional training is needed.听 Ultimately, the goal of the investigation is to prevent future accidents; however, a thorough investigation will also aid in the defense of the organization during potential legal battles concerning liability.
Managers, supervisors or employees who have received some formal training in safety and accident investigation, should conduct accident investigations.听 If the accident involved a temporary laborer or a consultant, it could be important to include a representative of the consulting company or the temporary labor firm so that they can provide input on their standard operating procedures while their employee was on the jobsite. Some of the facts that should be recorded during the investigation include:
- Time, date and location of the accident
- Weather conditions at the time of the accident
- The names of those who were involved
- Recording of all injuries
- List of witnesses
- List of equipment/vehicles involved
- Direction of travel of each vehicle involved
- Extent of damage to vehicles and/or property
- A description of what happened
- Collection of evidence including photographs, video, and information from on board computers and cameras
Supporting Documentation
The amount of evidence associated with an accident can be massive. The relevancy of each document and piece of evidence needs to be determined by a skilled and experienced investigator or attorney.
Some of the items that can be considered evidence or supporting documentation following an accident include:
- Witness statements
- Data from onboard computer
- Images from on board video camera
- 9-1-1 tapes
- Photographs of the scene
- Reports from police and emergency responders
- Surveillance video of the scene
- Driver DMV records
- Vehicle records including service and maintenance records
- Personnel files
- Timecards
Information from Eyewitnesses
Information from eyewitnesses can provide critical information for the accident听investigation. Information can come from people who were in the area where the accident occurred such as other drivers or pedestrians in the area.听 If the accident occurred inside of a facility, you can talk with co-workers who were in the work area before and after the accident.听 Also you can interview contractors or vendors who might have been in the work area and might have seen what happened.
When talking with witnesses it is important to keep them focused on the facts and avoid their thoughts, theories and opinions鈥攁gain, just the facts. If possible, have one person collect information from witnesses so that there is consistency with the questions and recording of information. It may be helpful to have witnesses draw the accident scene and identify where they were standing and the direction they were facing when they observed the accident.
The Root Cause Analysis
An important aspect of the investigation is the root cause analysis, which is a fact-finding activity during which one attempts to identify the contributing factors and the real cause of the accident. The question asked most during the Root Cause Analysis is, 鈥淲hy?鈥澨� Answering the 鈥渨hy鈥� question will allow the investigator to determine, with reasonable certainty, the cause of the accident. And, most importantly, once the root cause is determined, managers and employees can develop a corrective action plan that will allow for proactive and timely steps to prevent future accidents. Root Cause Analysis should take place for all accidents including those involving minor property damage.听 The theory is that if you address all safety related problems, both large and small, you will address all causes and the number of incidents should decrease over time.
Ultimately, the goal of every investigation is to make the workplace safer and reduce costs for the organization.听 To achieve this goal, accidents should be investigated while still fresh in the minds of those involved and with witnesses. The investigation should always focus on the reasons the accident occurred. Trained and experienced investigators will keep digging until they get to the root cause of the incident. And once the facts are recorded and the root cause is known, managers must take corrective actions to avoid future incidents.听 | WA
Next month鈥檚 safety tip will discuss facility inspections that help keep facilities safe, secure and in compliance.
Will Flower is the Vice President of Corporate and Public Affairs at Winters Bros. Waste Systems (Danbury, CT). Will has 32 years of experience in the area of solid waste management and environmental protection. He has held operational and executive leadership positions at the Director鈥檚 Office of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Waste Management, Inc., Republic Services. Inc. and Green Stream Recycling.听