There are accidents, and there are incidents (also called near misses). All accidents are incidents, but not all incidents are accidents.
An accident is an undesirable and unexpected—though not wholly unpredictable—event that causes injury or property damage. The events leading up to an accident generally involve some combination of unsafe equipment, conditions, and/or actions by the person or people involved.
With incidents, however, all the dynamics are exactly the same as an accident, except without damage to people or property, and no insurance claim is filed. However, the distinction is important. Don’t assume that an accident is minor because the consequences are not serious. Serious accidents arise out of the same hazards that produce minor incidents.
Should all accidents and incidents be investigated? Ideally, yes—or at least most of them. Typically, there are many incidents for every accident, so investigating incidents gives you the opportunity to correct a problem before someone gets hurt. Quality investigations will vary in time and complexity, but they will help:
- Document all the facts of an incident or accident, as well as verify false claims
- Act on meaningful corrective measures before another incident or accident
- Provide information to ensure that an injured employee is receiving the workers’ compensation benefits that he or she is entitled to
- Verify OSHA and company policy compliance or non-compliance
- Suggest ways management methods or work practices can be improved
Whenever an accident is reported, it should also be investigated and documented, even if the process is brief and the outcome is that nothing serious or consequential occurred. At the very least, it’s good practice to build a culture that includes investigating accidents and incidents.
Recommending Corrective Action
The ultimate aim of an investigation is to prevent the same, or similar, thing from happening again. By understanding the proximate cause and the root cause of an accident, constructive corrective actions can be implemented.
- Make recommendations only after careful consideration of the facts—and with plenty of input—or they won’t solve the problem. Input from the people who will be affected by your recommendations will help you develop realistic and useful recommendations and generate important buy-in from everyone involved.
- Recommendations should be clear and specific, including a date when everyone is expected to be compliant. Employees are willing to do their part to create a safe environment if you’re clear about your expectations.
- Hold supervisors and employees accountable. This should be common practice throughout your entire safety program, but if it’s not, now is a good time to get serious. In some cases, the personal consequences of the accident are all the accountability they’ll need. It is better to enforce accountability before an accident happens than to hope an employee learns a lesson after being injured.
- Safety is a management principle. It requires thought, effort, and sometimes creativity. Think of accident investigations as a means of measuring your safety program. As with any other management function, if you can’t measure it, you can’t correct it. And if you don’t correct it, it will get out of control and cost your organization potentially thousands of dollars in time, resources, future insurance premium, and human capital.
