9 July 2004 - Guidance Workbook Published by HSE for Accident Investigations
In order
to prevent re-occurrences of accidents within the workplace, the HSE have
published a workbook and guidance notes - Investigating accidents and
incidents - a workbook for employers, unions, safety representatives and
safety professionals, which will assist employers, unions and safety
professionals to identify, investigate and implement action in order to
eliminate the same accidents re-occurring.
The workbook, which is very simple to use, is mainly aimed at small and
medium sized companies and has been compiled through consultation with
unions and Health and Safety bodies. The workbook and guidance
notes take the user step-by-step through the investigating process from
start to finish and includes worked examples and blank template forms for
accident analysis.
The four steps featured in the guidance are:
-
the gathering of information
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the analysing of information
-
identifying risk control measures
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the action plan and its implementation.
Mr Jonathan Russell, from HSE's enforcement policy branch had the following to say:
“To have one accident is bad enough, but to have a further accident because lessons were not learnt is inexcusable. HSE believes that the best people to make workplaces safer are the staff and managers who work in them. By producing this guidance we aim to provide a tool for them to find out what went wrong, learn lessons and take action to reduce, or hopefully prevent, accidents in the future.”
Copies of ‘Investigating accidents and incidents - a workbook for employers, unions, safety representatives and safety professionals’ (HSE Ref. HSG245) are available from HSE Books. Priced £9.50
Article by Alexandra Johnston
