Incident
Investigation -- Tips, Techniques & Trivia
I’ve had a few calls about running my two day Intermediate
Investigation session in Calgary again and will do so in December
if there’s enough interest shown. See below.
Jeff
Investigation
Best Practices
A
few years ago the British Health & Safety Executive commissioned
a survey on Accident Investigation in preparation for legislative
changes to accident reporting. Over the next few months I’ll
share some of the highlights with you as I feel they hold true
for North America as well.
The majority of British companies were found to be using a traditional
approach to investigation in that investigations focused primarily
on the actions of the individual and ignored other potential contributing
factors. The minority used a systems based approach that considered
the concept of multiple causation, system issues that impacted
worker performance and both immediate and underlying causes.
The report
concludes that a successful incident investigation process should
incorporate the following basic requirements.
- A causal
model that represents a systems-based approach to incident investigation
- The involvement
of relevant individuals within the investigation
- Procedures
or protocols to structure and support the investigation
- The identification
of both immediate and underlying causes
- The development
of recommendations that address both immediate and underlying
causes
- The implementation
of these recommendations and the updating of relevant risk assessments
- Follow
up to ensure that actions taken are successful in reducing the
risk of further incidents
- Feedback
to relevant parties to share immediate learning
- The development
of an accessible database
In my experience
it is # 5, 6 & 7 that are most often missing from investigation
programs. What's yours?
Highway
Safety
If your safety
program involves safe driving programs you may find some helpful
ideas at this Government of Canada Highway Safety site.
To
view site. . .
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