Accident Investigation - Response and Reports

An accident scene is a chaotic place, particularly when injuries are involved. The supervisor should take charge of the site (it could be a construction site, office, or manufacturing environment) and direct any response activities.

It is important to remember that two concerns take priority at any accident scene:

• Care and treatment of the injured.
• Elimination or control of remaining hazards.

Treat the injured first

The care and treatment of the injured will take first priority at the scene. However, when hazardous conditions at the scene present an immediate threat to the health or safety of anyone, including rescue workers, eliminating or controlling the hazard should take priority.

When injuries are encountered at an accident scene, the supervisor should make sure that proper emergency help has been summoned and the victims are given any necessary first-aid. If emergency providers are already on the scene, the supervisor should make sure they receive whatever cooperation they need to get the job done. Only authorized first-aid personnel should be administering first-aid treatment. This includes trained employees, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, and medical personnel.

Control remaining hazards

After an accident, conditions at the site can remain hazardous. If anything at the scene still presents a danger, restrict access to the area until the hazard has been eliminated or controlled. If there is any uncertainty about conditions at an accident site, do not take chances, keep people out of the area until no danger remains.

Isolate the site to protect people and preserve evidence

Keep the area from being disturbed until it has been inspected. A common way to handle this is to use a brightly colored marking tape, rope, cones, barricades, or other types of signs to outline the restricted area. If none of these are available, employees may be posted around the site to keep people out of an area.

Accident Investigation

An incident investigation should be accomplished following every accident. The purpose of investigating an incident is to determine the incident cause so that similar accidents can be prevented.

It should be the responsibility of the supervisor to make an immediate report of every incident and “near miss.” The supervisor usually knows more about the accident than anyone else, and it is up to the supervisor, in most cases, to put into effect whatever measures may be adopted to prevent similar incidents.

Each investigation should be made as soon after the incident as possible. A delay of only a few hours may allow important facts to be destroyed or removed. It is the purpose of incident investigation to obtain factual information so that the cause can be determined and incident recurrence prevented, not to fix blame.

The following are items which should be covered in the supervisor’s incident investigation and report:

• Describe injuries (or property damage) - Cover what injuries were sustained or damage to equipment/vehicles/materials
• What was involved during the incident? - Describe how it occurred
• How was the incident caused? - Describe unsafe act, condition, or defective equipment
• How can this be prevented in the future? - Cover corrective action to prevent recurrence

Below are links to a couple of nice, free sample accident investigation report templates. Feel free to use them to add to your overall Health and Safety Program.

Accident Investigation Report – Sample #1

Accident Investigation Report – Sample #2

^{John Keller is a Risk Management Consultant with Praxiom Risk Management in Tampa, FL. Praxiom is a full-service outsourced Risk Management consulting firm specializing in safety, loss prevention, claims management, insurance placement, and is comprised of veterans of the risk management and financial services industry. Comments and questions are welcome at jkeller@praxiom-rm.com. Click here for a full bio.}