Incident Investigation and Safety Survey :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 1 Incident Investigation and Safety Survey


Slide 2:UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 2 OSHA’s Act Section 5 – “General Duty Clause” (a) Each employer --(1) shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees;(2) shall comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this Act. (b) Each employee shall comply with occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations, and orders issued pursuant to this Act which are applicable to his own actions and conduct.


What causes accidents? :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 3 What causes accidents? a. Human error b. Maintenance and support factors c. Administrative and supervisory factors d. Material failures or malfunctions e. Environmental factors


Incident Investigation :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 4 Incident Investigation a. Human error Human error causes an alarmingly high number of injuries. Human error is part of nearly every accident. Human error involves both physical and mental factors including ergonomics (design of the workplace), physical strength of the individual, physical stress, and mental factors including the person’s attitude, behavioral factors, etc.


Incident Investigation :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 5 Incident Investigation b. Maintenance and support factors Maintenance and support factors include improper maintenance, improper priority assignments on work requests, or lack of proper quality assurance. Material damage and personnel injury accidents can result from improperly maintained equipment.


Incident Investigation :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 6 Incident Investigation c. Administrative and supervisory factors Accidents/incidents can result from an improper level of supervision or a failure to require personnel to meet personnel qualification standards. They can result from a lack of formal and informal training. Reviewing whether regulations and their enforcement by all levels in the chain of command could have contributed to the accident/incident is essential during an accident investigation.


Incident Investigation :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 7 Incident Investigation d. Material failures or malfunctions Consider all material failures and malfunctions thoroughly, whether the failures or malfunctions occurred because of faulty design, defective manufacture, or repair. Most accidents blamed on material failure may really involve maintenance factors or human error.


Incident Investigation :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 8 Incident Investigation e. Environmental factors The cause of an accident may be existing environmental conditions. Environmental factors include exposure to extreme heat, cold, vibration, noise, illumination, radiation, or atmospheric contaminants.


Incident Investigation :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 9 Incident Investigation Conducted: To gather facts; Not to find fault or to blame; To learn what training must be included; & To determine & recommend what may be done to prevent recurrence.


Slide 10:UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 10 SIX KEY QUESTIONS FOR INJURY/ILLNESS ANALYSIS WHO... WHAT... WHEN... WHY... HOW... WHERE...


Slide 11:UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 11 WHO... was injured? saw the injury? was working with him/her? had instructed, trained, assigned the affected employee? else was involved? can help prevent recurrence?


Slide 12:UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 12 WHAT... was the incident? was the injury/illness? was being done at time of injury or incident? were they told to do? tools were being used? machine was involved? operation was being performed? instructions had been given? precautions were necessary? PPE was used or should have been used?


Slide 13:UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 13 WHAT...continued.. did others do to contribute to the accident? problem or question was encountered? did the employee or others do after the accident? did witnesses see? will be done to prevent recurrence? safety rules were violated? safety rules were lacking? safety rules/procedures are needed? additional training should be included?


Slide 14:UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 14 WHEN... did the injury or incident occur? did the employee begin the task? was the employee assigned to the task? were the hazards pointed out to the employee? did the supervisor last check on the employee's progress? did the employee notice something was wrong? was appropriate training provided? was a hazard assessment done? (1910.132)


Slide 15:UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 15 WHY... was the employee injured? did the employee behave that way? did other persons behave that way? wasn't personal protective equipment used? weren't specific instructions given to the employee? was the employee in that position/place? was the employee using that machine or tool(s)? didn't the employee check with supervisor? did the employee continue working under the circumstances? was the employee allowed to continue working? wasn't the supervisor there at the time?


Slide 16:UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 16 HOW... was the employee injured? could the injury/illness have been avoided? could co-workers avoid similar injury/illness? could the supervisor have prevented the injury/illness?


Slide 17:UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 17 WHERE... did the injury or incident occur? was the employee at the time of accident? was the supervisor at the time? were co-workers at the time? were other persons involved at the time? were witnesses when the injury occurred? else does this or a similar condition exist?


Report all injuries :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 18 Report all injuries Employees who are performing work for the University and are on the University payroll are covered under Worker’s Compensation for work-related injuries. Injuries must be reported to your supervisor immediately. The closest medical facilities are St. Michael’s Hospital and Rice Medical Center. In the event of a medical emergency, 911 or Protective Services (x3456) should be called. The injured employee and the supervisor must complete worker’s compensation injury reports for any work-related injury. These forms must be submitted to the office of Safety & Loss Control within 24 hours. An accident investigation will be conducted for every injury.


All Injuries & Illnesses are Important :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 19 All Injuries & Illnesses are Important There is no unimportant injury or illness. Minor injuries or near misses often precede disabling injuries. The cable that suddenly breaks and strikes a worker probably started with a single wire that frayed. The infection that later required medical treatment or hospitalization may have started with a small cut or scratch.


Incident Investigation and Safety Survey :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 20 Incident Investigation and Safety Survey


Safety Survey :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 21 Safety Survey Health and Safety Attitude Survey Be sure to indicate your department. Your name is optional. Please be “constructive”. Hazard Assessment Certification Safety and Health Program Evaluation


Summary :UWSP Safety Training - August 2006 22 Summary We discussed several causes of incidents (accidents/injuries). Nearly every one is influenced by Human Error. All reported accidents are investigated to learn the facts not to find fault and to try to avoid recurrence. We need to answer the questions: who, what, when, why, how, and where. All injuries must be reported – none are unimportant. Safety surveys can help make for a better safety culture. We can do better – we all can be part of the solution. Let’s work together; we have common goals.