Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

Incident and accident investigation and reporting
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will be the department manager or supervisor of the per-
son/area involved because they:
➤
know about the situation
➤
know most about the employees
➤
have a personal interest in preventing further incidents/
accidents affecting ‘their’ people, equipment, area, 
materials
➤
can take immediate action to prevent a similar 
incident
➤
can communicate most effectively with the other 
employees concerned
➤
can demonstrate practical concern for employees 
and control over the immediate work situation.
8.4.2
When should the investigation be 
conducted?
The investigation should be carried out as soon as pos-
sible after the incident to allow the maximum amount 
of information to be obtained. There may be diffi culties 
which should be considered in setting up the investiga-
tion quickly – if, for example, the victim is removed from 
the site of the accident, or if there is a lack of a particu-
lar expert. An immediate investigation is advantageous 
because:
➤
factors are fresh in the minds of witnesses
➤
witnesses have had less time to talk (there is an 
almost automatic tendency for people to adjust their 
story of the events to bring it into line with a consen-
sus view)
➤
physical conditions have had less time to change
➤
more people are likely to be available, for example, 
delivery drivers, contractors and visitors who will 
quickly disperse following an incident making con-
tact very diffi cult
➤
there will probably be the opportunity to take imme-
diate action to prevent a recurrence and to demon-
strate management commitment to improvement
➤
immediate information from the person suffering the 
accident often proves to be most useful.
Consideration should be given to asking the person to 
return to site for the accident investigation if they are 
physically able, rather than wait for them to return to 
work. A second option, although not as valuable, would 
be to visit the injured person at home or even in hospital 
(with their permission) to discuss the accident.