Industrial
accidents occur everyday. Some are major, with injuries to
workers and damage to property, but most are minor and don't
involve time lost, medical care or repairs to property. So
why should every accident be investigated, regardless of the
size or severity of the accident?
Why not just
investigate major accidents and save time? That's what this
program is all about. We want to explain the basics of
accident investigation and the benefits of investigating
every accident, regardless of its size or severity and why
this policy is an essential part of your overall safety
program.
Let's begin by
explaining the misnomer "accident". It's misnamed
because most dictionaries define the word accident as an
uncontrolled event. If the way we use this word to describe
work incidences, then there is nothing we can do about
"accidents" because they can't be controlled.
Accidents can be
controlled and prevented, so keep in mind that when we say
accident, it's not the same meaning as in the dictionary.
It's a term that's been around for so many years in
industry, that we understand what an accident is, in the
work environment. Accidents are described as occurrences and
their causes that may lead to property damage or work
injuries and fall into two categories.
Non-injury
accidents and injury accidents.
Certainly every worker has the right to expect a safe and
healthy environment in which to work and most companies
provide a safe and healthful work environment for their
employees. There is a big difference, however, to want to
keep your environment safe and making accident prevention a
policy and priority. To this end, companies and supervisors
must take an active role in accident prevention and accident
investigation is an integral part of the program.
Let's take a look
at how accident investigation is an important part of
accident prevention. First of all, the purpose of an
investigation is to determine facts, not place blame. The
focus is always on preventing future accidents. Accident
investigation and the data gathered become a vital part of
the program.
Accident statistics
and specific categories of the data gathered are not usable,
unless they make sense... therefore when investigating
accidents, it's important to assign codes for specific
categories of the data. Investigation forms normally provide
the codes, but it's up to the supervisor or investigator to
assign the proper code or grouping so later analysis can be
made of the information.
The minimum data
elements that should be included in any accident
investigation report include: Employer characteristics, such
as the type of industry, the size of the establishment and
number of employees. Employee characteristics, or the
victim's age, sex, department, occupation, whether full or
part time, or seasonal, length of service and how often the
employee repeats the activity involved in the accident.
A narrative
description of the accident itself, including what the
person was doing, what objects or substances were involved,
actions which led to the accident and a brief history of any
preceding events that might have contributed to the
accident. Any other conditions, such as temperature, light,
noise or weather that related to the accident should also be
noted in the narrative. Characteristics of the equipment
associated with the accident, such as the type, brand, size,
distinguishing features of the equipment, its condition, age
and the specific part or parts involved. Characteristics of
the task performed at the time of the accident, both the
general category of the task, such as repairing a motor and
the specific activity such as using a torque wrench on an
automobile wheel.
Time factors, or
the time of day the accident occurred, such as the first
hour of the swing shift. meal time or overtime. The use and
nature of preventative measures, which should include the
following questions: Was personal protective equipment
required and worn at the time of the accident? Did the
employee's clothing affect the accident sequence? What was
the level of the employee's training? Did standards or
procedures exist for the task and were they followed?
If not, what
happened? Were all safety guards in place and in use? Was
the supervisor on the job? What immediate action was taken
to prevent other accidents? The severity of the injury and
the part or parts of the body affected should be discussed.
It's important to
obtain statements from eye witnesses, as well as taking
photographs or video of the accident's location. Equipment
involved and other pertinent information to verify the
information in the report.
As reports are
collected, classifications for organizing accident data for
analysis can be created. Generally, in most case, some basic
form is used to begin your data base. Some companies use
computer data bases for analyzing accidents and injuries,
however, the most important part of analysis is to determine
patterns of accidents in similar areas, at similar times and
under similar circumstances from trends that will justify
corrective action.
If you're finding
that many injuries are occurring within 30 minutes of
returning from meals or breaks, that tells you the attention
span of employees may be distracted during this period.
Corrective action could be to hold short meetings
immediately upon returning from meals or breaks, to improve
awareness and reduce these exposures during this time.
Remember, the purpose of accident investigation is to
determine the facts and take corrective action to prevent
similar accidents in the future.
Let's investigate a
simple accident and see what corrective action could be
learned from the investigation.
An employee was
using a ladder to replace a burned out light bulb and was
using a step ladder. He slipped and fell off the ladder,
knocking him unconscious when he hit the floor. Using the
basics of what we discussed earlier, the first section you
complete is the description of the company and related
information. You describe the person injured, who is 31
years old, a full time maintenance employee who has been
with the company 7 years and who has no record of previous
accidents. He has probably performed this same task many
times in the course of his employment and has a reputation
for being a conscientious worker.
As you investigate the accident, two of the injured person's
co-workers who witnessed the accident explained that, as the
victim was coming down the ladder, he slipped off one rung
of the step ladder and fell. They know he was wearing tennis
shoes at the time of the incident. That's all they could
remember of the incident. Upon investigation of the actual
ladder used, there was some grease on the side rails and top
of the step ladder. The ladder was basically in good
condition and did not have any defects, other than grease on
the rails and top. This is a fairly simple accident, with
obvious results, but what could you do to help prevent
similar incidents?
You discussed the
accident with the injured person and all he could remember
is that his foot slipped off one rung of the bottom of the
stepladder and he tried to catch himself by grabbing the
ladder, but still fell to the floor.
Upon reviewing
other ladder injuries, approximately 4 months ago, another
employee, using a straight ladder to repair a broken fixture
on the outside of the building. The employee fell
approximately 10 feet, injuring his spine when he hit the
ground. The investigation revealed that he was wearing
tennis shoes at the time of the incident, but the ladder was
determined to have been in good condition, except there was
some grease or slippery substance on the ladder at the time
of the incident. Photographs were taken of the ladder and
the surrounding area and also of the grease on the rungs of
the ladder. Going back further into accident analysis and
statistics over the years, there have been several ladder
accidents. Four out of seven accidents involved persons
wearing tennis shoes, 5 out of seven revealed grease or
slippery substance on ladders, one ladder was damaged and
one ladder incident involved use of the wrong type of ladder
for the job being performed.
By analyzing past similar accidents, you can begin to see
what needs to be changed to prevent future accidents. In
this company, it appears that ladders are not being
inspected prior to use, therefore, procedures and more
training is required to make sure anyone using ladders must
first inspect ladders to make sure they are not damaged and
that there is no grease or slippery substances on the
ladder.
One specific area,
near the location where ladders are stored had a history of
being somewhat greasy and poor housekeeping conditions occur
frequently. Tennis shoes were involved in four occurrences,
although there is no evidence that tennis shoes were the
cause of the accident. However, it is well known that tennis
shoes and grease make a very slippery surface, whereas,
other work shoes are not as slippery in the same
environment.
Basically, the accident investigation information in these
incidences can be used to prevent future, similar accidents.
The company has identified one area where grease and poor
housekeeping may have contributed to the accident, so this
area must be cleaned and maintained in good, clean
conditions. All employees must be trained and supervised
that anytime they use ladders, they must first inspect the
ladder for any defects, damage or to make sure all rungs and
side rails are free of grease or slippery substances.
Proper footing for
ladders is a requirement, and when using straight ladders,
the ladder must be tall enough to extend at least 36 inches
beyond the top of the building or landing, so a person
getting on or off the ladder at the top will have a hand
hold. The ladder should also be secured at the top to
prevent it from falling.
Employees using ladders must be restricted from wearing
tennis shoes and use only leather topped shoes with good,
serviceable soles, which must also be inspected for grease
or slippery substances. All employees using ladders should
be properly trained and provided information relating to
ladder procedures and rules that would or could have
prevented these accidents.
The employees
involved in ladder accidents can also be a valuable source
of information about preventing ladder injuries. They can be
used to provide their experiences with others, or help draft
accident prevention standards for the use of ladders.
Overall, you have a
lot of information, you have made recommendations, based
upon facts gathered during the investigation, you have a
written report that can be reviewed by others in the
accident prevention process, you have photographs of the
accidents and equipment involved. All this information is
vital in the accident prevention process.
Adequate written documentation of the accidents in the files provides
information and documentation in the event of future litigation or other legal
action. In other words, the more information you have, the better accident
analysis and prevention will be to help prevent accidents in the future. It's
very cost effective to investigate all accidents, even if there is no injury or
property damage. If you investigate a near miss, you have the probability of
preventing a injury.
