Incident investigation occupational incidents

In the example discussed in Section 4.2, the company found that by integrating its accident/incident investigations across its process safety and occupational safety activities, it has saved one year of duplicate time to date by avoiding conflicting models and coordinating training efforts. This represents a 50 percent reduction in effort. 

Snee, T. J., "Incident Investigation and Hazard Evaluation Using Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Accelerating Rate Calorimetry," J. Occupational Accidents, 8 (1987). 

Several epidemiological studies have investigated cancer incidences among workers occupationally exposed to 3,3 -dichlorobenzidine and other aiylamines (Gadian 1975 Gerarde and Gerarde 1974 MacIntyre 1975 Myslak et al. 1991). Exposure may have been by both inhalation and dermal routes. These studies are discussed in greater detail imder Section 2.2.1.8 (inhalation cancer effects). 

The MORT technique has received domestic and international recognition, and has been applied to a wide range of projects from investigation of occupational incidents to hazards identification. It is supported by detailed documentation, and has been subjected to continued development efforts since it was originally introduced. Today there are several predefined trees available from public and proprietary sources that are based, at least in part, upon tbe MORT tool. 

Soon after the Bhopal incident, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) determined the necessity of investigating the... 

Methods, systems, and procedures for ensuring the occupational health of employees Emergency response including controls, personnel evacuation, escape, and rescue Incident investigation and reporting, corrective and follow-up action The method of performance review and audit including review in the light of external... 

Safety and health information means the establishment s fatality, injury, and illness history OSHA 200 logs workers compensation claims nurses logs the results of any medical screening or surveillance employee safety and health complaints and reports environmental and biological exposure data information from prior workplace safety and health inspections materials safety data sheets (MSDSs) the results of employee symptom surveys safety manuals and health and safety warnings provided to the employer by equipment manufacturers and chemical suppliers information about occupational safety and health provided to the employer by trade associations or professional safety or health organizations and the results of prior accident and incident investigations at the workplace. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupation Injury and Illness Classification Manual provides a much more detailed breakout of the type data that is most useful in analysis of occupational incidents. The four major areas of data that the BLS believes are important to collect during review or investigation of occupational safety and health incidents are Nature, Part of Body Affected, Source, and Event or Exposure. The following provide more detailed information with regard to the content of these data sources ... 

Each accident/incident should be methodically analyzed using an accident investigation/root cause analysis approach. Because many root cause analysis methods exist, it will be the investigator s responsibility to select the appropriate analysis approach (e.g., barrier analysis). Use of proper accident/incident investigation methods and tracking will lead to intervention, which will successfully prevent further occurrence of these occupational accidents and incidents. 

The requirements for incident investigation are concisely set forth in Section 6.2. They are contained in one paragraph, with no subsections. To fulfill the standard s requirements, organizations are to establish and implement processes to investigate and analyze hazardous incidents in a timely manner so as to identify occupational health and safety management issues (hazards, risks, management system deficiencies, and opportunities for improvement), and other possible incident causal factors. 

Advisory comments on incident investigation are more extensive. They indicate that incidents should be viewed as possible symptoms of problems in the occupational health and safety management system the goal is to identify and correct hazards and system deficiencies before incidents occur experience shows that incident investigations should be commenced as soon as practical and lessons learned from investigations are to be fed back into the planning and corrective action processes. 

National Occupational Safety Association (NOSA). 1990. Effective accident/incident investigation, Vol. HB4.12.50E. Pretoria, SA NOSA. 

Injury/incident investigation and reporting. This document contains the basic procedures and requirements for recording and reporting occupational illnesses and injuries as well as identifying the cause(s) of the accident or near-miss occurrence. In turn, this information can be used to implement corrective changes to preclude the recurrence of similar incidents. 

In a case-control study of pesticide factory workers in Brazil exposed to methyl parathion and formulating solvents, the incidence of chromosomal aberrations in lymphocytes was investigated (De Cassia Stocco et al. 1982). Though dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was coformulated with methyl parathion, blood DDT levels in the methyl parathion-examined workers and "nonexposed" workers were not significantly different. These workers were presumably exposed to methyl parathion via both inhalation and dermal routes however, a dose level was not reported. The exposed workers showed blood cholinesterase depressions between 50 and 75%. However, the baseline blood cholinesterase levels in nonexposed workers were not reported. No increases in the percentage of lymphocytes with chromosome breaks were found in 15 of these workers who were exposed to methyl parathion from 1 week to up to 7 years as compared with controls. The controls consisted of 13 men who had not been occupationally exposed to any chemical and were of comparable age and socioeconomic level. This study is limited because of concomitant exposure to formulating solvents, the recent history of exposure for the workers was not reported, the selection of the control group was not described adequately, and the sample size was limited. 

Modem toxicology has its roots in the occupational environment. The earliest recorded observations relating exposure to chemical substances and toxic manifestations were made about workers. These include Agricola s identification of the diseases of miners and Pott s investigation of scrotal cancer incidence among chimney sweeps. Occupational toxicology, as its name implies, concerns itself with the toxicological implications of exposure to chemicals in the work environment. 

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