Sunday, June 24, 2012

Accident Investigation 101 Part VI - Reporting


An accident investigation is not complete until a report is prepared and submitted to management for further review.  

In our previous blog we discussed how to take the proper information to document an incident at your wash. The next step is using this information to initiate a process to determine why this happened and how to prevent it in the future.

Your company may have a standard form, but if not we have included a sample report below for your convenience.  Regardless of what form is used, the accident report should cover the following four sections:

Background Information
a.       Where and when accident occurred
b.      Who and what were involved
c.       Operating personnel and other witnesses

Account of the Accident
a.      Sequence of events
b.      Extent of damage           
c.       Accident type

Discussion (Analysis of the Accident)
a.       Direct causes (energy sources; hazardous materials)
b.      Indirect causes (unsafe acts or conditions)
c.       Basic causes (management policies; personnel or environmental factors)

Recommendations (to prevent recurrence) for immediate and long range action to remedy:
a.        Basic causes
b.       Indirect causes
c.        Direct causes