Workplace Injury Actions & Investigations (PDF)

Actions taken after occurrence of accidents at the workplace Work Health & Safety HSC- Learning Outcome 4.3 1123  2 Th...

Actions taken after occurrence of accidents at the workplace Work Health & Safety HSC- Learning Outcome 4.3 1123  2 The purpose of investigating incidents / accidents: Incidents and accidents should be investigated to discover the cause so that corrective action can be taken to prevent similar accidents from happening again. Reasons for carrying incident investigations are: 1. To identify the immediate and root causes of incidents 2. To identify corrective action to prevent a re-occurrence 3. To record the facts of the incidents 4. For legal reasons 5. For claim management 6. For staff morale 7. For disciplinary purpose 8. For data gathering purpose  3 The process of investigating incidents / accidents: Incidents can be categorized in terms of their outcomes: 1. Near miss 2. Accident 3. Dangerous occurrence 4. Ill-health There are TWO (2) important actions that should be taken before starting investigation: 1. Safety of the scene: checking that accident area is safe to approach 2. Casualty (victim) care: any injured person would need first aid treatment  4 Typical content of an accident record: 1. Name and address of casualty (victim) 2. Date and time of accident 3. Location of accident 4. Details of injury 5. Details of treatment given 6. Description of event causing injury 7. Details of any equipment or substance involved 8. Witness names and contact details 9. Details of person completing the record 10. Signature of person completing the record  5 When a workplace injury occurs: Ensure that a trained first aid officer administers first aid to the injured worker. Dial emergency number to request an ambulance if necessary. Gather factual information about the event. Secure and isolate the area to prevent anyone else from being hurt or exposed to the same risk. Collect witness details quickly before they start to move away. Collect factual information from the scene and record it (pictures, sketches and temperature videos). Analyzing information to draw conclusions about immediate and root causes. Identify suitable control measures to prevent time, money and effort wasted. Plan the corrective actions that will be taken in just the same way as a workplace inspection will. Make sure all incidents are documented, communicated and reported in a legal frame work.  6 When a workplace injury occurs (continued): Preserve the scene to assist investigation and prevention activities. Notify the relevant parties including your local Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) authority, Workers’ Compensation authority and the appropriate people within your organization. Contact your legal adviser to help protect your legal rights and to minimize your exposure to unnecessary prosecution. Maintain sufficient levels of communication with colleagues and family of the injured worker. Nominate a company representative to deal with the OHS Inspector. Commence an internal investigation and fully engage employees in the process.  7 When a workplace injury occurs (continued): Address the risks that have been identified by an OHS expert in order to prevent any similar incident form occurring again in the future. Keep copies of all the documents provided by your OHS authority. Type of events to be reported to external agencies are: 1. Fatalities 2. Dangerous occurrences 3. Major injury (NOT Minor injuries) 4. Occupational diseases (diseases caused by the nature of your job)  Thank You 800 MyHCT (800 www.hct.ac.ae 69428)