Jan-Feb-2015-TT-for-Website

Member Services Committee
industry. We achieve this goal through ongoing training
on the different types of hazards in the industry. A
tool that can be used to reduce the number of accidents
and fatalities is accident investigation. All too often
an accident goes unreported because the persons
involved in the accident are perceived as the guilty
party. When investigating an accident you should not
be looking to find out whose fault it is, you should be
looking at what ultimately caused the accident. The
ultimate goal of an investigation is to learn from the
accident and prevent it from happening again. The
investigation team is looking for the root cause of the
accident. Once the root cause is found, you can then
fix the problem that caused the accident and prevent it
from happening again.
When performing an investigation you should include
as many individuals as possible. Treat the investigation
process as a learning tool and use other people’s
expertise. The accident investigation team should
include:
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Upper management
Immediate supervisor
Safety supervisor
Personnel not involved in the accident
Those involved in the accident, if possible
Some of the essential items that you will need to perform
an investigation are:
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Camera
near misses. If a near miss is investigated, the results
of that investigation could prevent an accident in the
future. The problem with near miss investigation is the
fact that most of these incidents go unreported and
the investigation never occurs. To solve this problem,
encourage your workforce to report near misses by reassuring
them that the reporting of these incidents will
not result in disciplinary action and that the findings
will be used to help prevent accidents in the future.
The act of performing accident and
near miss investigation can have a
positive effect on your safety
program. These investigations can
greatly reduce the chance that
accidents will reoccur in the future.
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Tape measure
Writing pad
Straight edge ruler
Pens, pencils
Accident investigation forms
Investigating these incidents is a powerful tool that
should be a recognized practice in every company’s
safety program. The proper use of investigation tools
will reduce the number of injuries and save lives in our
industry. n
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Flashlight
There are a number of other items that would be helpful
in the investigation process.
What if I told you that you could also predict accidents
that would happen in the future A majority of
accidents that happen in the workplace can be predicted
by performing a near miss investigation. Most
companies will perform an accident investigation.
However, few companies perform an investigation on
We now have unshakable
conviction that accident
causes are man-made
and that a man-made
problem can be solved
by men and women.
~W.H. Cameron
38 TOWER TIMES JANUARY ■ FEBRUARY 2015