I.

Terms

1. Accident – is defined as an unplanned event that results in personal injury or property damage.

Examples:

1. Road traffic accidents

2. Accidents at work

3. Slip and fall accidents

4. Bites and stings

5. Poisoning

6. Inhalation of foreign bodies

7. Burns and scales

8. Drowning

9. Cuts

10. Medical negligence

2. Incident – is defined as an unplanned event that does not result in personal injury but may result in
property damage or is worthy of recording.

Examples:

1. Equipment failure

2. Chemical Spills/An uncontrolled escape, spillage or leakage of a substance

3. Electric Shock

4. Machine Entanglement

5. An uncontrolled implosion, explosion or fire

6. The collapse or partial collapse of a structure

7. The interruption of the main system of ventilation in an underground excavation or tunnel

8. The inrush of water, mud or gas in workings, in an underground excavation or tunnel

9. The collapse, overturning, failure or malfunction of, or damage to, any plant that is required
to be authorized for use in accordance with the regulations

10. An uncontrolled escape of a pressurized substance

3. Accident Investigation – is the process of determining the root causes of accidents, on-the-job injuries,
property damage, and close calls in order to prevent them from occurring again.

4. Accident Escalation – is a rapid increase in the intensity or seriousness of recorded accidents.

5. Near miss – is a subset of incidents that could have resulted in injury, illness or property damage, if
given a different set of circumstances, but didn’t. Near misses are also known as ‘close calls.’

Examples:

1. Someone was pushed out of a pick-up truck in error when the vehicle was still in motion. He
falls to the ground, rolled over but was not injured.

2. When hoisting an electric motor in the engine room, the welding broke on the lifting eye to
which the chain block was attached, the electric motor fell from a height of about 3meters and landed
just centimeters from the crewman operating the chain block.

3. An employee trips over an extension cord that lies across the floor but avoids a fall by
grabbing the corner of a desk.

4. Not cleaning up a spill and someone almost slipping in it.

5. Solvent splash almost contacting skin / eyes.

6. An outward-opening door nearly hits a worker who jumps back just in time to avoid a mishap.

7. Uninspected pressure vessels.

8. PPE not worn.

9. Poor electrical grounding.

10. An employee trips over an extension cord that lies across the floor but avoids a fall by
grabbing the corner of a desk.

6. Incident Reporting – An incident report is a formal recording of the facts related to an incident. The
report may pertain to any unusual occurrence on a worksite, but would normally relate to an accident or
injury that has occurred.

II. Scope of Accident Escalation

1. Determine

2. Prevent Failure

3. Disclose Unsafe Practice

4. Identity Trends

5. Recommend Correction

6. Determine the total cost / damage

III. Goals of Escalation and Investigation

The prime objective of accident investigation is prevention. Finding the causes of an accident
and taking steps to control or eliminate it can help prevent similar accidents from happening in the
future. Accidents can rarely be attributed to a single cause. Work environment, job constraints, and
supervisory or worker experience can all play a part. These factors must be examined to determine what
role each had in causing the accident.

Once the causes are established, precautions must be identified and implemented to prevent a
recurrence. Investigators must always keep in mind that effective accident investigation means fact-
finding, not fault-finding.

To explain why and how an accident happened, investigators must collect information on the
events that took place before and during the event. Investigators can then determine accident
conditions by examining physical evidence and interviewing witnesses. Both of these steps are of equal
importance and should be done as soon as possible to ensure complete accident investigation. Equally
important is the need to document the steps that were taken immediately after the accident to deal
with the emergency and to begin the investigation. It also identifies the forms to be used and the
procedures to be followed within specified time frames.

In order for an investigation to be a valuable tool in accident prevention, three things must take
place:

 the information gathered must be analyzed;

 corrective action must be taken; and
 the action must be monitored for effectiveness.

The information that follows is intended to be a general guide for employers, supervisors, health
and safety committee members, or members of an incident investigation team. When incidents are
investigated, the emphasis should be concentrated on finding the root cause of the incident so you can
prevent the event from happening again. The purpose is to find facts that can lead to corrective actions,
not to find fault. Always look for deeper causes. Do not simply record the steps of the event.

Reasons to investigate a workplace incident include:

 most importantly, to find out the cause of incidents and to prevent similar incidents in the
future
 to fulfill any legal requirements
 to determine the cost of an incident
 to determine compliance with applicable regulations (e.g., occupational health and safety,
criminal, etc.)
 to process workers' compensation claims
 The same principles apply to an inquiry of a minor incident and to the more formal investigation
of a serious event. Most importantly, these steps can be used to investigate any situation (e.g.,
where no incident has occurred ... yet) as a way to prevent an incident.

IV. When to conduct accident escalation and investigation?

The first priority after an accident occurs is—of course— the safety of the employees involved.
Once the severity of the accident has been properly managed, a quick and in-depth investigation should
be conducted as soon as possible.
1. Accident - The accident investigation must start as quickly as possible.

2. Incident - In conducting an incident investigation, the team must look beyond the immediate causes
of an incident. It is far too easy, and often misleading, to conclude that carelessness or failure to follow a
procedure alone was the cause of an incident. To do so fails to discover the underlying or root causes of
the incident, and therefore fails to identify the systemic changes and measures needed to prevent
future incidents. When a shortcoming is identified, it is important to ask why it existed and why it was
not previously addressed.

3. Near miss - Employees must report all incidents and near misses to their supervisor. No reprisals or
disciplinary action will be taken unless there is willful misconduct, negligence or criminal intent by the
person(s) reporting.