How to Report Accidents in the Work Place

[gmowry]

I have been appointed Safety Coordinator along with ISO 9001 "guru". I would like to know how others report accidents in the work place. It is my view that the employee and immediate supervisor fill out the accident report (whenever possible) and create a corrective action. It is the responsibility of the Safety Team to evaluate the actions for effectiveness and Human Resources to be the "holder" of documentation and insurance follow up. I have an upcoming meeting and I feel I may get resistance from the supervisors. Thanks in advance for any help provided.

[Jennifer Kirley]

Why do you expect push back from supervisors?

I will direct you to HRDirect's Be Wise With OSHA Rules. I am not affiliated with HRDirect. One passage is of special interest to us:

OSHA Form 301 (or equivalent): Injury and Illness Incident Report. On these OSHA forms, you must describe each incident in detail. Fill it out within seven days of learning about an incident, but you should do it as soon as possible to make sure all details are correct.

Be sure to include information about the employee’s activities before the accident, any environmental factors such as a rain-soaked surface, safety procedures followed or not followed by the employee, activity occurring near the accident site and the actions taken after the accident. Also note any safety training the employee may have had that relates to the injury.

Describing the incident in detail requires having intimate knowledge of what happened. Since we're not the Borg on Star Trek, this usually means the person nearest the place where the incident occurred - the injured party and the supervisor due to understanding of the process - has the best knowledge.

If the supervisors push back, you need to deal with that as its own issue. If they do not feel they have any responsibility for what goes on in the processes, or if they feel they cannot positively impact the process safety, these are serious system issues that need to be dealt with after correcting the immediate hazard.

People need to understand that this isn't much different from QA nonconformances. You have containment (correcting the immediate hazard) and long term fix (addressing system and/or behavior factors).

It's my personal opinion that every supervisor in a hazardous workplace needs an OSHA 10-Hour card. Your state Dept of Labor may have a free program to help get the training for that.

Once they do, it's my further opinion that supervisors should be directly involved with designing a safe work environment. I have attached a paper and tool for this subject in the Reading Room.

I hope this helps! Please let us know how it goes.

[Randy]

You know, when you're secret about where you are it's pretty hard to give useful advice. Jennifer gave you some advice that may or may not be relevant to your situation.

As a safety professional, which I am, the solution you have could work and possibly be suitable for you

[gmowry]

My name is George Mowry, working a in a small fabricating shop in upstate New York. My background in ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. I am trying to head off anypossible problems. Everywhere I have been employed has handled accident reporting the way I described. I did not mean to be secretive, just haven't taken the time for a Bio yet. Thanks

[Jennifer Kirley]

George, was my advice relevant? Trying to avoid preaching...

[Beachwalker]

Some things you may think are work-related accidents are not...here is an excerpt from a ComplyRight guide I have on my desk....

You are not required to record injuries and illnesses if:
■ At the time of the injury or illness, the employee was present in the work environment as a member of the general public rather than as an employee.
■ Th e injury or illness involves signs or symptoms that surface at work but result solely from a nonwork-related event or exposure that occurs outside the work environment.

I know that we have seen instances like this, and some managers have reported them as OSHA covered injuries. It's tough to get it all backed out of the system once they're reported, so make sure your staff knows the difference.

I think this guide is still available at complyright.com The title is Employers Guide to OSHA Compliance. It's a good reference book, and I think it was pretty cheap.

[Randy]

In Reply to Parent Post by gmowry

My name is George Mowry, working a in a small fabricating shop in upstate New York. My background in ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. I am trying to head off anypossible problems. Everywhere I have been employed has handled accident reporting the way I described. I did not mean to be secretive, just haven't taken the time for a Bio yet. Thanks

This link is where you need to go for specifics..

http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/osp/stateprogs/new_york.html

Learn your regulatory requirements for internal reporting

Also refer to the US OSHA site for good general reporting information www.osha.gov

Vermont Safety is another good site http://hazard.com/

[somerqc]

Randy gave the best advice so far.

Check with your local requirements as a start. I am in Canada, but, one thing is similar here and there. The H&S requirements change (sometimes dramatically) from province-to-province/state-to-state.

As long as you are meeting the legal requirements (I tend to aim higher, but that is the base I start from), the procedure used to meet the requirements should be tailored to your company.

We do expand our investigations to ensure all witnesses are interviewed as well.

We are currently creating a form that will help supervisors/managers walk through the investigation process easier. Upon completion of the investigation, the results are reviewed by the executive committee for any additional actions required (re: corrective actions). Furthermore, the Joint Health and Safety committee reviews all accident investigations at their meetings. This sounds complicated, but, these are the requirements in my area. I am not saying this is right or wrong, all I know it that it is working here and meets the requirements.

John