CLINICAL LAB SCIENEC

104
ESSENTIALS OF CLINICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
4. Other causes are conditions that could result in accidents but had no
effect on the specific accident currently being investigated. Many times
when an investigation is ongoing, additional risks are identified quite by
chance and are handled along with the original management of the dangerous
condition.
Why Should an Accident Investigation Be Initiated?
An investigation is performed mainly to prevent a recurrence of the accident.
Nearly all accidents offer the possibility of preventing another accident at some
time in the future. Thus, it is important to examine each accident as soon as
possible, to find the cause and to remedy the situation. Even under heavy workloads
and time constraints, workers are required to work within practical limits.
Even under ideal circumstances, the work situation is not going to be perfect. It
is necessary to maintain schedules and account for adequate staffing, absenteeism,
or sickness while maintaining or even increasing the quality of service and
increasing the speed at which work must be completed. Not all job hazards can
be eliminated, but student, worker, and patient welfare require the elimination
of all identified job hazards. Practical measures can be taken to eliminate many
of the dangers associated with students’ jobs. Injury prevention and accident
prevention are often confused. For example, when students are required to wear
safety shoes or safety glasses, the possibility of some injuries is reduced, but not
the possibility of an accident. Nevertheless, when it is not possible to eliminate
the accident potential, there must be concentration on preventing the injury. In
some situations, a simple solution may be available where both the injury and
the accident are preventable, but most situations do not limit themselves to such
a simple solution. The first consideration should be to prevent the accident. If
this is not possible, then action must be taken to prevent the injury that may
occur as a result of the accident.
Responsibility for Safety Investigations
Again, Safety Committees are an integral part of a medical facility as well as
of educational institutions. There are no set rules dealing with how a Safety
Committee must be set up. Each organization must tailor its staff and equip its
workers and students for its own needs, regardless of size. In educational institutions,
the instructor is in contact with the students and is responsible for all
operations within the class, including safety. This person may be the classroom
and laboratory instructor in the college or function as a preceptor for students
in clinical settings, but both categories of instructor are usually the best qualified
to investigate an accident in the area he or she knows best. Instructors who
work with the students are aware from experience of the students’ attitudes, the
work they will be performing, and the hazards involved. This does not mean that
the instructors share all of this responsibility. But ultimately everyone should be
involved. The student and administrative staff share the responsibility with the
instructor for students’ safety.
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