The Ins and Outs of Accident Investigation

The Ins and Outs of Accident Investigation

February 19, 2015

Amanda Rawls, District Manager

Moderator

Rebecca Ward

Sr. Marketing Content Specialist

(303) 219-7802

[email protected]

Presenter

Amanda Rawls

District Manager

(713) 391-8437

[email protected]

Questions?

If you have questions during the presentation, please submit them using the “Questions” feature

Questions will be answered at the end of the webinar

Accident Investigation

Accident vs. Incident

What is an accident? An undesired event that

results in personal injury or property damage

An unplanned, unwanted, but controllable event

which disrupts the work process and causes injury to

people

Also called “occurrences”

Predictable

Preventable

What is an incident?

Accident vs. Incident

An unplanned and unwanted event which disrupts the

work process

Near Miss

Incidents where no property

was damaged or personal

injury sustained, but given a

slight change in time or

position, damage and/or injury

easily could have occurred

True Cost of an Accident

Hidden Costs

• Damage to lot or equipment

• Unhappy customers

• Clean-up time

• Schedule delays

• Training new employees

• Overhead costs

• Damage to reputation in community

• Lost time by other employees

Accidents

Direct Costs

• Insurance costs

• Claim costs

• Lost time

• Medical bills

• Legal fees

Incidents

Accident Investigation

Investigate ALL accidents and incidents

Why?

• Prevent future incidents

• Identify and eliminate hazards

• Expose deficiencies in process/equipment

• Reduce injury and worker compensation costs

• Maintain worker morale

• Meet (some) State regulations that all serious

accidents are investigated

How To Investigate

Accident Investigation - Prepare

Develop a plan ahead of time

• Who to notify in the workplace?

• How to notify outside agencies?

• Who will conduct the internal investigation?

Develop

Investigation Kit

Camera Scissors

Recorder Tape

Tape Measure Flashlight

PPE

Report Forms

Who Should Investigate?

Who should investigate?

• Check your company policy

• Supervisor in charge of the area/activity

Required training? Appropriate training should be completed

• Written OSHA Injury Illness Prevention Program

• Free OSHA tools – National Safety Council

• Consulting services like KPA

Accident Investigation - Enact

Accident Medical Treatment Investigate

Begin investigations immediately!

Where to start?

• Notify individuals according to your plan

• Grab the “investigation kit”

• Approach the scene

Actions At the Scene

1. Check for danger

2. Help the injured

3. Secure the scene

4. Identify and separate witnesses

5. Gather the facts

- Take pictures and/or video

- Position of tools and equipment

- Equipment operation records

- Equipment ID numbers

- Note environmental conditions

- Note housekeeping

Interview Witnesses

1. State the purpose, there to do fact checking not

fault-finding.

2. Ask witness to recount their version of events

• Don’t interrupt

• Take notes or record their responses

3. Ask clarifying questions

4. Reflect back the factual information

5. Ask what they think could have

prevented the incident

Moving Equipment

IF: A death or probable death happens or one or more

employees are admitted to the hospital

THEN: You must not move any equipment until OSHA

concludes an onsite investigation

UNLESS: You must move the equipment to remove

victims or prevent further injury

Do not move equipment following serious injuries!

Accident Investigation - Analyze

Review evidence

Identify root causes

Determine corrective actions

Prepare report

Communicate report

Root Cause Analysis

Root Cause Analysis is systematic technique

Goals:

• To prevent reoccurrence

• As a process of continuous

improvement

• To find underlying physical and

procedural problems

• To guide organizational change

• To promote safety culture

The Five Whys

Keep asking “What caused or allowed this condition

to occur?” until you reach the root cause

A box fell off a shelf and struck a parts employee

Why? – The box was not secured and placed on the highest shelf.

Why? – Because the parts employee did not view back injury prevention

where it was emphasized to store heavy items on the middle shelf.

Why? – The employee did not know how to complete online training.

Why? – Because an online login was not created for the employee.

Why? – Because this is not part of the new hire training policy/process.

The Five Whys

Benefits of asking Why?

Simplicity - Easy and requires no tools or math

Effectiveness - Truly helps separate symptoms from causes

Comprehensiveness - Aids in determining the relationships

between various problem causes

Flexibility - Works well alone and with other techniques

Engaging - Fosters and produces teamwork

Inexpensive - Guided, team focused exercise. No costs!

Write the Report

Who was involved?

What was the sequence of events?

Where and when did the accident happen?

How were employees injured?

• List suspected causes and human actions

• Use the evidence gathered

Report needs to be based on facts!

Accident Investigation - Correct

Conclusions should answer the following:

• What should happen to prevent future accidents?

• What resources are needed?

• Who is responsible for making changes?

• Who will follow up and ensure changes are implemented?

• What will be the future long term procedures?

Barriers to Accident Investigation

What is stopping this process? Time

Questions?

Amanda Rawls

District Manager

(713) 391-8437

[email protected]