Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

8.2 
Reasons for incident/accident 
investigation
8.2.1 Logic and understanding
Incident/accident investigation is based on the logic that:
➤
all incidents/accidents have causes … eliminate the 
cause and eliminate future incidents
➤
the direct and indirect causes of an incident/accident 
can be discovered through investigation
➤
corrective action indicated by the causation can be 
taken to eliminate future incidents/accidents.
Investigation is not intended to be a mechanism for 
apportioning blame. There are often strong emotions 
associated with injury or signifi cant losses. It is all too 
easy to look for someone to blame without considering 
the reasons why a person behaved in a particular way. 
Often short cuts to working procedures that may have 
contributed to the accident give no personal advan-
tage to the person injured. The short cut may have been 
taken out of loyalty to the organization or ignorance of a 
safer method.
Valuable information and understanding can be 
gained from carrying out accident/incident investiga-
tions. These include:
➤
An understanding of how and why problems arose 
which caused the accident/incident
➤
An understanding of the ways people are exposed to 
substances or situations which can cause them harm
➤
A snapshot of what really happens e.g. why people 
take shortcuts or ignore safety rules
➤
Identifying 
defi ciencies in the control of risks in the 
organization.
8.2.2 Legal 
reasons
The legal reasons for conducting an investigation are:
➤
To ensure that the organization is operating in com-
pliance with legal requirements
➤
That it forms an essential part of the MHSW 
Regulation 5 requirements to plan, organize, control, 
monitor and review health and safety arrangements
➤
To comply with the Woolfe Report on civil action 
which changed the way cases are run. Full disclos-
ure of the circumstances of an accident has to be 
made to the injured parties considering legal action. 
The fact that a thorough investigation was carried 
out and remedial action taken would demonstrate 
to a court that a company has a positive attitude to 
health and safety. The investigation will also provide 
essential information for insurers in the event of an 
employer’s liability or other claim.
8.2.3 Benefi ts
There are many benefi ts from investigating accidents/
incidents. These include:
➤
The prevention of similar events occurring again. 
Where the outcomes are serious injuries the enfor-
cing authorities are likely to take a tough stance if 
previous warnings have been ignored
➤
The prevention of business losses due to disruption 
immediately after the event, loss of production, loss 
of business through a lowering of reputation or inabil -
ity to deliver, and the costs of criminal and legal 
actions
➤
Improvement in employee morale and general atti-
tudes to health and safety particularly if they have 
been involved in the investigations
➤
Improving management skills to improve health and 
safety performance throughout the organization.
The case for investigating near misses and undesired 
circumstances may not be so obvious but it is just as 
useful and much easier as there are no injured people to 
deal with. There are no demoralized people at work or 
distressed families and seldom a legal action to answer. 

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