Accidents, ill-health
and incidents at work
are seldom random
events. They
generally arise from
Why did we
failures of have that
management control incident
and involve many Sometimes the answer is
different elements. simple
Accidents occur for many reasons. In
most industries people tend to look for
"things" to blame when an
accident happens, because it's easier
than looking for "causes," such as those
listed below. Consider the
underlying accident causes.
Have you been guilty of any of these
attitudes or behaviors?
If so, you may have not been injured-
but next time you may not be so lucky.
We are not cheap we just
don’t want to have incidents
Your employer has a duty to protect you
and tell you about health and safety
issues that affect you. They also have a
legal obligation to report certain
accidents and incidents and to pay you
sick pay if you are entitled to it.
We all need to:
Reporting an incident is an important part of an effective
occupational health and safety program. It helps identify
work related health and safety hazards, risks and dangers.
The purpose is to identify the causes of incidents.
Appropriate controls can then be put in place to prevent
further occurrences of such events. In other words an
incident investigation is normally performed to find out
what happened, why it happened, and to prevent it from
happening again. The same innovative approach is
demonstrated through the stipulations of the Occupational
Health and Safety Act. According to the Act, the employer
or user of machinery should formally investigate all section
24 incidents as well as any other incident where more
medical treatment than the normal first aid is required
It helps us, it help our clients, it
helps other prevent
Identify safe and unsafe, acts or conditions
Identify areas for improvement
Follow up when mitigating actions are
indicated
Accumulate data for tracking trends
related to safety
Papers Please it’s a simple
report
Any injury at work - including minor injuries -
should be recorded in your employer's
'accident book'. All employers (except for
very small companies) must keep an
accident book. It's mainly for the benefit of
employees, as it provides a useful record of
what happened in case you need time off
work or need to claim compensation later on.
But recording accidents also helps your
employer to see what's going wrong and take
action to stop accidents in future.
It is simple report them all!
By having a proper incident reporting
process, you will be able to better understand
and address the risks and hazards in your
workplace. And not only that – a proper
incident reporting process will help you satisfy
your legal obligation to report workplace
safety incidents AND protect your business in
the case of a prosecution.
But sometimes, it can be difficult to know
which types of workplace safety incidents you
have to report on and which you don’t.
Potential Accidents or
Incidents (Close calls):
There can be situations that if left
unchecked, could result in serious
incidents or injuries. Such situations should
be reported to the Supervisor or
Company Safety Officer immediately,
who will then in turn, contact the
appropriate resources to have the
situation resolved immediately.
This Too!
Occupational Health Concerns
There are time restrictions in
filing accident and injury
reports. The Company must
file an injury report to the
WCB Health & Safety within
72 hours of an accident
We all work together to
prevent
Fatalities
The Workers'
Lost Time
Compensation Board
Injuries
requires notification of
Medical
all worker accidents in
which: Treatment
First-Aid Cases
a worker requires
medical attention, or Unsafe Acts
a worker cannot Unsafe
continue working after Conditions
the injury
Not Taking
Shortcuts
Every day we make decisions we hope will make the job faster and
more efficient.
Do your time savers ever risk your own safety, or that of other crew
members?
Shortcuts that reduce your safety
on the job are not shortcuts, but an increased chance for you to be
injured.
Times Three
Accident investigations are a tool for
uncovering hazards that either were missed
earlier or require new controls (policies,
procedures or personal protective
equipment).
Near-miss reporting and investigation identify
and control safety or health hazards before
they cause a more serious incident.
Incident investigations should focus on
prevention.
Hazard Identification & Risk Assessment
What Hazard ?
What can go
wrong ?
How bad ? How often ?
So what ?
Being over-confident: It is not the same a
competent
Confidence is a good thing.
Overconfidence is too much of
a good thing. "It'll never
happen to me" is an attitude that
can lead to improper
procedures, tools, or methods in
your work. Any of these can
lead to an injury.
Starting a Task with Incomplete
Instructions: Tell me again PLEASE!
To do the job safely and right the first time
you need complete information. Have
you ever seen a worker sent to do a job,
having been given only a part of the
job's instructions? Don't be shy about
asking for explanations about work
procedures and safety precautions.
It isn't dumb to ask questions; it's dumb
not to.
Poor Housekeeping:
When clients, managers or safety
professionals walk through your work site,
housekeeping is an accurate indicator of
everyone's attitude about quality,
production and safety. Poor housekeeping
creates hazards of all types. A well
maintained area sets a standard for others
to follow. Good housekeeping involves
both pride and safety.
Ignoring Safety Procedures:
Purposely failing to observe safety
procedures can endanger you and
your co-workers. You are being paid
to follow the company safety
policies-not to make your own rules.
Being "casual" about safety can lead
to a casualty!
Mental Distractions from Work:
Having a bad day at home and worrying
about it at work is a hazardous
combination. Dropping your 'mental' guard
can pull your focus away from safe work
procedures.
• You can also be distracted when you're
busy working and a friend comes by to
talk while you are trying to work.
• Don't become a statistic because you
took your eyes off the machine "just for a
minute."
Model for an Incident
Prevention
Control
Mitigation
The steps involved in investigating an incident?
The incident investigation process involves the following steps:
Report the incident
Provide first aid and medical care to injured person(s) and prevent
further injuries or damage
Investigate the incident
Identify the causes
Report the findings
Develop a plan for corrective action
Implement the plan
Evaluate the effectiveness of the corrective action
Make changes for continuous improvement
As little time as possible should be lost between the moment of an
incident or near miss and the beginning of the investigation. In this
way, one is most likely to be able to observe the conditions as they
were at the time, prevent disturbance of evidence, and identify
witnesses.
Task
The actual work procedure being used at the
time of the incident must be explored.
Members of the incident investigation team
will look for answers to questions such as:
Was a safe work procedure used?
Had conditions changed to make the normal
procedure unsafe?
Were the appropriate tools and materials
available?
Were they used appropriately for the task(s)
performed?
Were safety devices working properly? Was
work being performed if they were not?
Was lockout used when necessary? Was
correct lockout procedure followed?
Material
To seek out possible causes resulting from the
equipment and materials used, investigators might ask:
Was there an equipment failure?
What caused it to fail?
Was the machinery poorly designed?
Was the equipment maintained correctly according to
manufacturer’s directions or industry standards?
Were hazardous substances involved?
Were they clearly identified?
Was a less hazardous alternative substance possible
and available?
Was the raw material substandard in some way?
Should personal protective equipment (PPE) have
been used?
Was the PPE used?
Were users of PPE properly trained?
• Environment
The physical environment, and especially
sudden changes to that environment, are
factors that need to be identified. The
situation at the time of the incident is what
is important, not what the "usual" conditions
were. For example, incident investigators
may want to know:
What were the weather conditions?
Was poor housekeeping a problem?
Was it too hot or too cold?
Was noise a problem?
Was there adequate light?
Were toxic or hazardous gases, dusts, or
fumes present?
The Worker!
Was the worker a “New Worker”? Was the
worker on the job less than 30 days?
Were workers experienced in the work being
done?
Had they been adequately trained? Is there
supporting documentation?
Can they physically do the work?
What was the status of their health?
Were they tired? Were there previous
indicators of being fatigued prior to work
commencing?
Were they under stress (work or personal)?
Failure to Pre-Plan the Work:
There is a lot of talk today about Job
Safety Analysis. JSAs are an effective way
to figure out the smartest ways to work
safely and effectively. Being hasty in
starting a task or not thinking through the
process can put you in harms way.
Instead, Plan Your Work and then Work
Your Plan!
We the Company what was
the plan
Were the appropriate safety rules communicated to and
understood by all workers ?
Were written procedures and orientation available?
Were they being enforced?
Was there adequate supervision?
Were workers trained to do the work? Were the students
trained in the safe processes?
Had hazards been previously identified?
Had procedures been developed to overcome them?
Were unsafe conditions corrected?
Was regular maintenance of equipment carried out?
Were regular safety inspections carried out?
“You get the level of safety
that you demonstrate you
want.”
Benefits of Good Safety
Management
Reduction in the cost of medical and
workers’ compensation
Greater productivity
Improved product or research quality
Overall operation improvement
Basic Principles of Good
Safety Management
Management Commitment
Documented Safety Philosophy
Safety Goals and Objectives
Committee Organization for Safety
Line Responsibility for Safety
Supportive Safety Staff
We, Us, You---All of US!
Employees must:
Make safety equal to all other aspects of
the job [and in our company, safety is #1]
Follow all safety rules and procedures
Management must:
Accept responsibility for prevention of
injuries
Accept responsibility for safety training
Supervisor’s Responsibilities
Know, communicate, and enforce
existing standards
Recognize the need for revised standards
Develop new procedures and rules when
necessary
Train employees to follow all rules and
procedures
When Someone is Working
Unsafely
Observe; then get the person’s attention
Comment on what the employee was
doing safely
Discuss with the employee
The possible consequences of the unsafe
act
Safer way to do the job
We cant
You can’t address a risk you haven’t
identified.
You need to understand the risk to decide
what action to take.
What you don’t have can’t leak – Inherently
Safer Design.
Make sure the operator understands the
design intent – Document Control.
Processes are not a substitute for competent
people.
Assurance (QA, HAZOP, PHSSER) is essential
but not a substitute for doing the job properly
in the first place.
Conclusion
All injuries can be prevented
Management is responsible for preventing
injuries
Working safely is a condition of employment
Training employees to work safely is essential
Prevention of personal injuries is good
business (and good science!)
Site Inspections can play a key role in safety
And, once again …
“Today is the first day of the rest of
our life, so be safe be alert“