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AS THE OSH PROFESSION CONTINUES TO EVOLVE, a major concern remains: the number of workplace fatalities and serious injury events each year. As incident rates have declined over the years, fatality rates have not significantly changed; they have plateaued and risen slightly. Recent data from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, 2017) indicate 5,190 workers died from an occupational injury in 2016. This number increased by 7% over 2015 and is the highest count since 2008.
In the authors' view, the persistence of serious injuries and fatalities suggests that many organizations have flaws within their management systems in the way they plan, organize, implement, execute, monitor, communicate and improve. One way that OSH professionals can help organizations improve their management systems is through more effective analyses of incidents.
An incident is an unplanned, unwanted event that results in injury or damage (an accident) or an event that could have resulted in harm or loss (a near-hit). All incidents should be investigated, regardless of the extent of injury or property damage. In the authors' experience, most organizations perform some degree of investigation and analyses for incidents resulting in injury, damage or those with significant severity potential. However, the driving forces for conducting incident investigations and analyses can vary for organizations ranging from the need to file insurance claims; complete regulatory compliance records; track lagging indicators; or meet contract requirements from customers. All of these are important, but they do not represent the real purpose of incident causal analysis.
Incident Investigation & Analysis Objectives
The primary objective of investigating and analyzing incidents is simple and straightforward: to gain an understanding of how and why an incident occurred so that similar incidents can be prevented in the future. For an incident investigation and analysis to be effective, it must identify not only direct and indirect causes, but also their underlying causal factors so that corrective actions can be taken to address systemic causal factors. If performed properly, the selected corrective actions will eliminate or reduce not only the direct and indirect causes, but the underlying causal factors within the management system. The approach presented in this model is flexible and encourages customization.
In addition to the primary objective of preventing recurrence of an incident, incident investigation and analysis are...