Finding the cause of accidents and incidents and acting on their causes will prevent or reduce the possibility of them re-occurring and can have a huge benefit on many aspects of a business such as:
- Increased moral
- Reduction in down time
- Reduction in claims
- Reduced risk of prosecution
Effective accident investigation is not only a moral and legal duty; it also represents sound commercial sense, as identifying and addressing the root causes of accidents guards against future incidents. A thorough investigation of an accident is also a positive visible demonstration of your commitment to safety.
UK Safety Accident Investigation support service has been designed to help you ensure that a thorough and unbiased investigation takes place that explores all lines of enquiry and results in a prioritised remedial action plan designed to minimise the likelihood of similar accidents happening again. The results gathered from the investigation could be helpful in defending your organisation you should you be facing action from enforcement authorities or a compensation claim.
Reactive Monitoring is carried out after things go wrong and involves learning from your mistakes whether they have resulted in injuries, illness, property damage or near misses.
Workplace Accident Investigation is used to determine the cause of an accident and identify any failure of the health and safety management system. It allows measures to be put into place and management procedures to be amended in order to prevent re-occurrences.
Workplace accident investigation reports may be used to defend any legal action against your organisation as they show that you are actively trying to reduce the possibility of re-occurrences.
The process involved in investigating serious accidents may involve:
- Inspection of the accident/incident location and recording of evidence
- Inspection of site health and safety documentation in relation to the accident/incident
- Taking witness statements
- Interviewing injured parties
- Preparing a full report identifying the root causes of the accident/incident and any recommendations required.
The report will also contain the information needed by your organisation to meet the requirements of the Pre-action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims as published by the Department for Constitutional Affairs (dca).
