Free Safety EBooks by Peter Ribbe

HOW TO ACHIEVE A SAFE WORKPLACE

ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

From the author:

How often have I walked into a business or factory and discussed safety with supervisors/managers that seemed at a loss of how to make their workplaces safer.

As adult humans we have an inbuilt capacity to identify hazards and things that could endanger our lives, young children and teenagers do not have this ability, hence to adults, teenagers often seem reckless in what they do, it really does not kick in until we reach maturity. As hunter gatherers, we had a danger response called fight or flight; we used

this auto response to ascertain hazards and danger and how it might affect our chances of survival, this is still with us, only used but rarely.

As parents, we can automatically see and sense when our children are in danger, but rarely see these things in our surroundings for our own personal safety, or the safety of others.

This little booklet is written in an easy to understand way that allows any manager or supervisor to gain an insight into a way to achieve a safer place to work for themselves and their employees.

Introduction:

Accident & Incident investigation is a practiced art, the investigator (s) should never conduct an investigation with existing prejudices, but with a clear mind set only on the objective to ascertain what happened, why did it happen and how can this be prevented from happening again.

As an investigator, you are not seeking to lay blame for the accident, to do so jeopardises the investigation outcomes, and as such, you should not be in a position to carry out the investigation.

A good investigation can only be achieved, when the investigator (s) are neutral and solely focused on the structure of the accident itself.

Like a detective conducting a criminal investigation, you are looking for factual evidence that will stand up in court, evidence that will lead to a decisive conclusion.

The quality of an investigator is subject to their experience, just like a detective, one gets better the more one learns from each investigation.