Accident investigations information collection

For accident analyses and other efforts for which input information may be provided piecemeal, start the PET analysis as early as practical and update it as new information is available. Use the PET chart as a guide for organizing the accident investigation and collecting evidence (Figs. 16-2 through 16-5). 

Use this Vehicle Accident Investigation File to record and maintain inforrpal investigation forms can be used to document and collect accident inforiroat contains the forms listed below. As the accident investigation proceeds, information to complete the file. 

This method has been used for many years in the industrial sector to investigate industrial incidents and was originally developed by the U.S. Department of Energy [13,14]. RCA may be described as a systematic investigation approach that uses information collected during an assessment of an accident to determine the underlying factors for the deficiencies or shortcomings that led to the occurrence of the accident [15]. 

Organizations can use a variety of processes to analyze workplace hazards and accident causal factors. Hazard evaluations and accident trend analysis can help improve the effectiveness of established hazard controls. Routine analysis enables an organization to develop and implement appropriate controls for hazardous processes or unsafe operations. Analysis processes rely on information collected from hazard surveys, inspections, hazard reports, and accident investigations. This analysis process can provide a snapshot of hazard information. Effective analysis can then take the snapshots and create viable pictures of hazards and accident causal factors. 

The collection of facts should begin immediately after an accident occurs. Start with an accident site walk-through, interviews, and actual physical material collection. This will increase the accuracy of the information that is collected and help eliminate any uncertainty or vagueness. It wiU also help when it comes time to put together the event s causal factor chain. At this stage, the details will prove necessary. It is important to have as much information as possible in order to have an ideal accident investigation, including the events and the conditions at the time. 

Factual information needs to be collected where there is the likelihood of some form of claim either against the organization or by the organization (e.g. damage to equipment). This aspect should be considered as a second objective in accident investigation, the first being to learn from the accident to reduce the possibility of accidents occurring in the future. 

In all accident investigations of this type there are two types of information to collect ... 

Information collected from accident reports is crucial in investigation of the causes leading to accidents, and the records should be used to look for trends in laboratory safety. In this fashion, for example, a safety program instituted to reduce the number of needle punctures can be evaluated for its effectiveness in reducing such accidents. 

Table 15.1 presents a proposed smallest efficient data set on accidents and near accidents. It is based on the framework for accident analysis presented in Chapter 6 and takes the author s experiences from evaluations of SHE information systems into consideration. In this proposal, no additional information is requested from the supervisor other than that collected on a traditional accident-investigation form. The reason why a SHE expert is needed to feed additional data is to secure the reliability of the data. In addition, the SHE expert will be responsible for checking the quality of the data from the supervisors. 

A basic decision in the design of a SHE information system is to define the types of data about accident risks to be collected and how they are going to be stored (as defined by the data model). Experience shows that there is a tendency to over-estimate the actual information needs and their complexity. As a consequence, the data-collection routines and the accident-investigation form are made more complicated than necessary. A sub-optimal design will affect the quality of the data as well as the motivation of the concerned personnel. 

This assessment information was consistent with the themes NASA had obtained during the Safety and Mission Success Week that was held two months prior to our engagement in which each center director collected feedback from his workforce on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report. The issues raised included ... 

As discussed earlier, most data collection systems in the CPI place considerable emphasis on the "what," but provide little support for the "how" or "why." Causal analysis methods can be broadly divided into techniques which emphasize the structure of an accident and those which focus on causes. Structural techniques provide information on the "what" and "how," and the causal techniques enable the "why" to be investigated. 

The three laws are enforced from regional laboratories where samples of formulated pesticides and raw and processed foods that have been collected are analyzed. Pesticide formulations are analyzed to see if they are properly labeled, i.e., they contain the pesticide in the amount claimed on the label. These analyses will also indicate whether other pesticides, i.e., adulterants, are present. Through complaints, accidents, and investigations of suspected violations, the government also receives information of any violation of FIFRA (Terriere, 1982). 

Response — Response includes the preparation of accident and investigation reports using the data you collected and analyzed. Depending on the situation this information may be included in the accident register (see pg. 7 of this chapter), state accident notification reports, and insurance reporiis. For your company s records you may choose to prepare a final report. 

The law may dictate what data to collect. For example, in certain automobile accidents police officers must acquire information on alcohol and drunkenness. These are some general kinds of data to collect during investigations. Some data is unique to particular kinds of accidents. 

Investigators must approach each vehicle accident reconstruction as a realistic and unbiased narrative of scientific facts in context. Reconstruction involves three phases investigation, in which evidence is collected analysis, in which evidence is interpreted in context and presentation, in which interpretations and conclusions are conveyed to persons who intend to use the information. 

Appendix 15.2 provides a checklist of headings, which may assist in the collection of information. It is not expected that all accidents and incidents will be investigated in depth and a dossier with full information prepared. Judgement has to be applied as to which incidents might give rise to a claim and when a full record of information is required. All accident report forms should include the names of all witnesses as a minimum. Where the injury is likely to give rise to lost time, a photograph(s) of the situation should be taken. 

Analysis of paints is a routine part of forensic investigations of hit-and-run accidents or collisions involving vehicles. Paints have complex formulations. Automotive paints are applied in layers and the sequence and colours of the layers provide information on the origins of the vehicle. By matching IR and Raman spectroscopic data from a vehicle paint sample to those in databases (e.g. the European Collection of Automotive Paints and Paint Data Query), it is possible to determine the vehicle s manufacturer and year of production. The main components of a paint fall into four categories ... 

The collection of data on as many loss producing accidents as possible provides information on which an effective programme of remedial action can be based. This process will involve the investigation, reporting and recording of accidents that result in either injury or disease to an individual, damage to property, plant, equipment, materials, or the... 

In theory, a thorough investigation will result in the collection of the information required to satisfy all of these purposes but, in practice, this is rarely the case. If, for example, the primary purpose is to collect the information required for accident notification then the investigation is usually stopped when the relevant information has been collected, whether or not this information includes that required for the prevention of a recurrence. When the primary purpose is to establish where the fault lay, there may be an additional problem in that the investigation may become adversarial, that is, the investigators are on one side or the other, for example the employer s side or the injured person s side. This can lead to biases in... 

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