In yesterday’s Advisor, we suggested 10 key words you can use to get employees actively involved in the accident prevention process. But the fact remains that accidents will happen, and today we’ll look at how you can make accident investigations a vital part of your accident prevention program.
The Accident Investigations course in BLR’s Employee Training Center says that the role of the accident investigation team is to determine the root cause(s) of an accident. The accident investigation is not intended to place blame on anyone. Instead, the team should look at procedures, training, equipment, tools, and possible deficiencies in the systems of the workplace.
Once the investigation team has found these root causes, or causal factors, they should identify corrective actions that will fix or repair the system deficiencies. When the corrective actions are implemented, they should prevent the accident (or a similar accident) from happening again.
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Another reason to investigate the accident is to document what happened and how an employee was injured. These documents are used for workers’ compensation claims and as an educational tool to help prevent a similar accident. OSHA also requires documentation, and information must also be entered on the OSHA 300 Log. These documents must be available for OSHA if the agency inspects your workplace.
OSHA Wants to Know
There are certain OSHA requirements to keep in mind when an accident occurs in your facility. For instance:
- If an accident results in the death of one or more employees, OSHA wants to be notified by phone or in person within 8 hours.
- If a single event results in the hospitalization of three or more employees, OSHA wants to be notified within 8 hours.
- Other injuries requiring treatment beyond first aid must be documented, and the documents must be kept at the facility for OSHA to inspect or request copies. OSHA requires employers to keep a record of the details of each injury on an incident report form 301 or equivalent. Your accident investigation, along with an insurance or workers’ compensation form, will meet OSHA’s requirements for documentation.
- OSHA also requires employers to record injury information on the OSHA 300 Log. This log lists all the recordable injuries that have occurred at your workplace.
- Each year, OSHA requires employers to post the OSHA 300A form, which is a summary of the 300 Log from February 1 through April 30, for all employees to see how many injuries occurred in the previous year and what type of injuries they were.
These excerpts are just a small sampling of the information provided in the Employee Training Center’s 28-slide audio presentation on Accident Investigations. The course also includes detailed speaker’s notes and a quiz to make sure your workers get the message.
And the Accident Investigations course is just one of more than 45 safety training courses available in the Employee Training Center. These are all motivational, actionable programs—for both supervisors and employees—in such key areas as hazard communication, back safety, general workplace safety, bloodborne pathogens, OSHA requirements, and many more. And, what’s more, we add new programs continually.
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Just as important, the Employee Training Center automatically documents training. As trainees sign on, their identifications are automatically registered. And when the program is completed, the trainee’s score is entered. So, when you want to see who has or hasn’t yet trained on any subject, or look at the across-the-board activity of any one employee, it’s all there, instantly available to you, your boss, an inspector—even a plaintiff’s attorney.
The Employee Training Center also includes a similar selection of HR courses—you decide whether you want just the safety courses or both the safety and HR modules.
And from the standpoint of your accounting office (an important standpoint in these tight times), you always know exactly what training will cost, no matter how many programs you use or how many times you use them. There’s just one low annual fee for unlimited training, calculated by the size of your workforce. Budget once and you’re done!
We urge you to sign up for a no-obligation demo by visiting the new Employee Training Center. Or, feel free to call our customer service people toll-free at 866-696-4827.