Accident Investigation and Prevention in Occupational Safety
Accident Investigation
Recognition, Assessment, and Risk Control
Risk Prevention
Risk prevention involves activities to prevent occupational accidents and diseases. It is linked to two disciplines: Industrial Safety and Industrial Hygiene.
Industrial Safety: Its objective is to prevent accidents.
Industrial Hygiene: Its aim is to prevent and control diseases.
Accident Costs
Direct Costs: Costs of insurance and financing medical and economic benefits for the injured.
Indirect Costs: Costs that do not involve an immediate outlay of money, caused by the accident.
Causes of Accidents
Unsafe Actions
Depend on the employee or individual. Examples:
- Removing machine protections without justification
- Using machinery without the necessary knowledge
- Not enforcing safety rules or standards at work
Unsafe Conditions
Rely on the working environment. Examples:
- Slippery floors
- Unsafe tools
- Scales with worn treads
Factors Involved in an Accident
Source: Activity performed by the worker before an accident.
Agent: Physical element of the work environment causing the injury.
Type: How contact occurs between the worker and the physical element. Three types:
- Struck by (the agent goes to the worker)
- Struck against (the worker goes to the agent)
- Overexertion (relative motion is undetermined)
Accident Investigation
Determines the causes of an accident and makes recommendations to prevent recurrence.
Accident Analysis and Research
Preventive technique to analyze how and why an accident happened, determine the causes, and identify corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
What is Accident Investigation?
A process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data and facts to compare what happened to what should have happened, identify the causes of this deviation, and prevent recurrence.
Objectives of Accident Analysis and Investigation
- Understand the purpose of accident investigation
- Know how to conduct an objective investigation
- Encourage worker participation in accident investigation and analysis
Steps in Accident Investigation
Interview: Interview those directly involved (injured and/or with more control over the situation), eyewitnesses, and key individuals. Allow them to tell their version without interruption, ask clarifying questions, and thank them for their participation.
Inspection: Examine the accident site and environment to find direct or indirect causes.
Reconstitution: Important source of information, but only used when verbal accounts are insufficient. Should not be repeated due to potential unsafe practices.
Analyze and Conclude: The supervisor prepares an accident report, recording all related information in an orderly manner.
Report Items: Identification, injuries and damages, description of the accident, analysis of the causes, recommendations, and comments.
Collection of Existing Information: Gather all existing but dispersed information. Key activities include interviewing witnesses, inspecting the site (taking pictures), and reviewing documents and previous reports.
Information Analysis
Connect all collected information to establish how the accident occurred, the work being performed, environmental conditions, tools used, and other relevant details. This helps to:
Determine the Immediate Causes: Establish the abnormal conditions and wrongful acts that directly caused the accident (unsafe conditions and unsafe acts).
Determination of the Root Causes
Relate each immediate cause to its underlying cause to establish the real causes (e.g., unsolved design problems, missing factory protections).
Recommendation of Control Measures: Focus on eliminating the accident and solving the root causes of the hazards.
Reporting and Recording of the Accident Investigation: Document the investigation, including the description of the event, identification of injured individuals or damaged property, analysis and determination of causes, and control measures and recommendations.
Correction of the Causes: Implement the recommendations, effectively correcting the identified problems and taking preventive action to avoid similar incidents. The investigation report should be sent to the appropriate chain of command for corrective action.
Monitoring Control Measures: Verify whether the measures were implemented and effective, allowing for adjustments and follow-up. This should be performed by the investigator.
Research Benefits
- Demonstrate concern for worker protection
- Identify and correct accident causes
- Promote work safety and control
- Identify causes of property damage
- Reduce unproductive costs arising from accidents
- Prevent disruptions in normal operations
Research Process
- Accident report
- Review of evidence
- Determination of immediate causes
- Analysis
- Specialized studies
- Determination of root causes
- Definition of control measures
- Registration information
- Application of control measures
- Monitoring and evaluation
Accident Analysis
Analyze accidents according to people, nature of injury, body part, work area, task, age, etc.
Classification of Measurements: Depends on consequences (injuries, property damage, interruptions), causes (unsafe acts, unsafe conditions, personal factors, work factors), and control (performance management).
Measurement of the Cause
Immediate Causes: Unsafe acts and conditions.
Basic Causes: Personal and work factors.
Accident Investigation
Objective: Determine the causes (unsafe acts or conditions), establish the factors involved, and propose control measures.
Who Investigates?: The immediate superior, risk-prevention department, or the joint committee.
Characteristics of Research
- Non-blaming
- Conducted as close as possible to the event to preserve evidence
- Ensures completeness and practicality
- Researchers must understand the process, operations, equipment, and facilities
Companies and Workers
Collaborative effort is essential. Active worker involvement is fundamental in controlling accidents and occupational diseases, requiring support and the permanent implementation of all safety standards throughout the company.