Accident investigation in practice

The accident was recorded - but never investigated

We investigated a claim involving an employee of a building company who injured his hand while using a disc cutter.

An entry had been made in the company's accident book and, as far as the employer was concerned, the matter was closed. The employer failed to ask the question why the employee was using the tool when he had not been trained; who authorised him to use it and why there ws no risk assessment in place.

In short, the post-accident investigation was inadequate and the controls in place to prevent the employee using the equipment were non-existant.

When a letter of claim was subsequently received and the insurers investigated the circumstances, the employer was ultimately found liable.

The lesson: recording an accident is not the same as investigating it. A proper investigation may identify underlying issues with training, risk assessments, equipment or the system of work that would otherwise remain undiscovered.

Accident book entry → not the end of the process. 

The employer failed to act when it was aware of a risk to its employees

We investigated an incident where an employee slipped on a wet floor caused by a leaking roof.

The employer investigated the incident and correctly identified the underlying problem being the leaking roof. The investigation recommended that steps be taken to repair the roof and prevent a recurrence.

However, no action was taken to address the problem and, shortly afterwards, another employee slipped and fell in the same area. The employer had failed to make the area safe even when it was aware of the hazard.

The lesson: an accident investigation should not simply identify what went wrong. Where corrective action is recommended, it needs to be implemented and, where appropriate, monitored to ensure that the risk has actually been addressed.

In this case, the first investigation had identified the problem, but the failure to act left the same hazard in place.

More examples of actual accident-related investigations will be added as the site develops.