ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS

GENERAL

A) Every accident, including the minor injury accident is a potential lesson to be learned by management. An accident investigation is a systematic effort to establish all relevant facts and interpretations regarding how and why an accident occurred.

B) Preventing recurrence is the true objective of the accident investigation.

C) Accidents should be investigated as soon as practical after their occurrence.

D) The first line supervisor is responsible for the investigation although some assistance may be necessary from the office of safety coordinator.

E) An accident is defined as "any unintended event that causes personal injury or property damage and interrupts or interferes with the orderly progress of an activity or process under circumstances where personal injury or property damage could have resulted."

Experience has shown that most accidents result from unsafe acts and unsafe conditions.

Examples of unsafe acts include:

• using unsafe methods,
• performing operations without necessary supervisory authorization,
• rendering safety devices inoperable,
• operating at unsafe speeds
• using improper or damaged equipment,
• failing to use prescribed safety equipment; and
• horseplay.

Examples of unsafe conditions include:

• inadequate guarding;
• defective conditions;
• defective design or construction;
• innately hazardous process;
• inadequate lighting;
• inadequate ventilation; and
• inadequate clothing or personal protective equipment.

Underlying factors that result in the development of unsafe acts and unsafe conditions include:

• lack of knowledge or skill;
• lack of training;
• lack of operational planning; or
• lack of equipment maintenance procedures.

THREE BASIC FACTS

There are three basic facts about any accident.

FACT 1. ACCIDENTS ARE CAUSED. This fact must be understood and accepted by all involved - management, supervision and hourly personnel. True, some people talk and act as if accidents really had no cause or at least none that was predictable.

Everyone has heard expressions like:

a) "It was an accident; he couldn't help it."

b) "It wasn't"t his fault; it was an accident."

c) "-- it will never happen to me."

d) (after a fatality), "His number was up."

That is why the first step in accident prevention is a firm recognition of the fact that ACCIDENTS ARE CAUSED and moreover that practically every accident cause is predictable and controllable.

FACT 2. ACCIDENTS ARE PREVENTED IF THE CAUSES ARE ELIMINATED

Probably the best antidote to the beliefs just discussed is to look at the actual safety record of industry over the past 75 years. During this period, great efforts have been put forth to eliminate accidents in industry, and the results are impressive.

National Safety Council data for example show a rapid reduction in the frequency of disabling injuries (called "lost workday cases" today) in one six-year period at the outset a greater national safety consciousness effort - a nearly 60% reduction from 31.9 per million man hours in the first year to 12.5 in the last. Similarly, during the next 20 years, the accident rate improved a further 38 percent. In recent years, while the trend of reduction in lost workday cases has leveled off, it continues to improve. This means that the prevention of accidents is becoming traditional in major segments of industry. There is, of course, still room for improvement in many, many plants.

FACT 3. UNLESS THE CAUSES ARE ELIMINATED, THE SAME ACCIDENT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN

This third fact points to the fundamental principle which underlies every safety and health program, that;

ACCIDENT PREVENTION MEANS ELIMINATING CAUSES.

It is recognized that the CAUSES to be eliminated involved unsafe conditions and acts which arise from a wide variety of sources and take many possible routes to injury. While the elimination of such causes may appear complex, SIMPLE, BASIC, COMMON-SENSE PRACTICES can and will do the job to keep you safe.

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