Accident investigation
Health & Safety Management for Quarries
Topic Seven
Accident and Incident
Investigation
Objectives of this Section
• To define the reasons for investigating accident and incidents. • To outline the process for effectively investigating accidents and incidents.
• To facilitate an effective investigation.
Accident Investigation
• Important part of any safety management system.
Highlights the reasons why accidents occur and how to prevent them.
• The primary purpose of accident investigations is to improve health and safety performance by:
Exploring the reasons for the event and identifying both the immediate and underlying causes;
Identifying remedies to improve the health and safety management system by improving risk control, preventing a recurrence and reducing financial losses.
What to Investigate?
• All accidents whether major or minor are caused.
• Serious accidents have the same root causes as minor accidents as do incidents with a potential for serious loss. It is these root causes that bring about the accident, the severity is often a matter of chance.
• Accident studies have shown that there is a consistently greater number of less serious accidents than serious accidents and in the same way a greater number of incidents then accidents.
Many accident ratio studies have been undertaken and the one shown below is based on studies carried out by the
Health & Safety Executive.
1
Major injury
Or illness
7
Minor injuries or illnesses
189
Non Injury Accidents/Illnesses
Accident Studies
• In all cases the ‘non injury’ incidents had the potential to become events with more serious consequences.
• Such ratios clearly demonstrate that safety effort should be aimed at all accidents including unsafe practices at the bottom of the pyramid, with a resulting improvement in upper tiers.
•
Peterson (1978) in defining the principles of safety management says that “an unsafe act, an unsafe condition, an accident are symptoms of something wrong within the
Topic Seven
Accident and Incident
Investigation
Objectives of this Section
• To define the reasons for investigating accident and incidents. • To outline the process for effectively investigating accidents and incidents.
• To facilitate an effective investigation.
Accident Investigation
• Important part of any safety management system.
Highlights the reasons why accidents occur and how to prevent them.
• The primary purpose of accident investigations is to improve health and safety performance by:
Exploring the reasons for the event and identifying both the immediate and underlying causes;
Identifying remedies to improve the health and safety management system by improving risk control, preventing a recurrence and reducing financial losses.
What to Investigate?
• All accidents whether major or minor are caused.
• Serious accidents have the same root causes as minor accidents as do incidents with a potential for serious loss. It is these root causes that bring about the accident, the severity is often a matter of chance.
• Accident studies have shown that there is a consistently greater number of less serious accidents than serious accidents and in the same way a greater number of incidents then accidents.
Many accident ratio studies have been undertaken and the one shown below is based on studies carried out by the
Health & Safety Executive.
1
Major injury
Or illness
7
Minor injuries or illnesses
189
Non Injury Accidents/Illnesses
Accident Studies
• In all cases the ‘non injury’ incidents had the potential to become events with more serious consequences.
• Such ratios clearly demonstrate that safety effort should be aimed at all accidents including unsafe practices at the bottom of the pyramid, with a resulting improvement in upper tiers.
•
Peterson (1978) in defining the principles of safety management says that “an unsafe act, an unsafe condition, an accident are symptoms of something wrong within the