Investigations of Serious Accidents at Multiple Employer Sites

Clients involved in these types of accidents are typically small or medium sized employers with an average safety program working for a large international organization with sophisticated safety programs. Firm “A” has hired “B” who in turn has hired employer “C”.

When I first meet employer “C” they always tell me they enjoy good working relationship with both “B” and “A” and that while this accident is unfortunate, it in time will be resolved and our business relationship will continue undamaged. That is rarely the case!

Yes, there’s a good working relationship between all parties as long as everyone is doing what they were contracted to do. Have a fatal accident and everything changes! Your accident has caught the attention of government, the media and the public; groups employers don’t want to have knocking on their doors after a negative event. This is unwanted attention, and expect employer “A” to initiate steps to protect both the organization and their employees against any future accidents or liabilities. They will begin dissecting both the ongoing investigation and the safety program of employer “C” as they have both a right and duty to do.

Employer “C” usually has limited resources to meet the increasing demands from “A” and the whole focus of “C” becomes upgrading safety programs and developing corrective actions. Production has ceased adding to pressure and frustration of all participants. Often “B” will support “C” with the safety resources they lack; as it’s in everyone’s best interest to resume operations as quickly as possible.

Here are a few things to consider:

Your senior management must be visible!

If yours is a small organization the owner/CEO must be on site immediately and expect to be there for several days. In larger organizations a senior VP must be present. This does a couple of things. Most importantly it shows to both “A” and your own employees that senior management cares. You may not have the greatest safety program going, but failing to show up only confirms that with “A” and they will hone in on that both now and as the investigation and the response unfolds. As well, you need the senior management level to deal on an equal footing with the senior management from “A”. Sending your foreman to a meeting with an executive from “A” is not want you want to do. “Half of diplomacy is just showing up!”

Meet face to face and avoid emails.

Tempers are short and frustration is high. It’s too easy for all parties to say something in an email they will later regret. This is a relationship building process and emails are too impersonal. Emails seem to offer a venue for focusing on minute detail for example, “not only is your reference to the CSA standard out of date, but you used the American spelling for laborer”. Senior executives meeting face to face would likely not get into this detail, nor should they. The spelling or a word had nothing to do with the accident, but I’ve seen this type of pickiness happen on a number of occasions. Have a few face to face meetings, and then agree to future communication methods.

Slow down a little.

When “A” is demanding action there’s a tendency on behalf of “C” to promise deadlines that can’t be met. It’s not reasonable to expect that you can do a full hazard assessment on all your site specific jobs and tasks in just a few days, but you could likely do the two or three that are directly related to the accident, and the rest over the next few months. It simply makes things worse when you deliver a poorly thought out new work practice.

Sometimes it’s your own senior executive who not being fully familiar with the safety program doesn’t realize what they may be promising. The team safety lead/manager should attend these meetings as well. All material sent to “A” should be reviewed by others on your team to ensure clarity and the ability to meet what you’ve promised. Wait a few hours and read it again before you push the “send” button. Set a schedule you can live with.

Push back a little.

Sometimes the demands of “A” simply aren’t reasonable or can’t be met in their timeline. They need to be told that in a firm positive manner and this is something your senior executive can do on your behalf. I find the more “C” gives into the demands of “A” the more they are called upon to do. Simply a case of “A” being on a roll so to speak and as they’ve never heard the word “no” they keep asking. Again, this is a diplomacy issue. Sometimes “A” simply has no idea that “C” lacks the resources to meet their demands. Ask “A” for examples of their policies and procedures as writing yours in their style will make them more easily accepted. It also makes them part of the solution, not just the problem so to speak. It’s not my intention to speak poorly of “A”, but they often expect that others will have the same sophistication in their safety programs that they enjoy. In hindsight, the time to have looked at safety programs was when the contract was signed, but that seldom happens.

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