Training incident investigation

Supervisory personnel cannot do a good job of investigation if they have not had the necessary traiiung. Thus, incident investigation training is given and repeated. 

For the manufacturing operation that is in the lower quintile of the Fortune 100, it became apparent in a review of incident reports that almost all identified a worker unsafe act, only, as the incident causal factor and recommended a form of instruction or training as a solution. In conversation with the corporate safety staff, they said that they had an incident investigation training program for supervisors. They were asked to send the instructor s guide and the student s handbook to this author. 

Number of employees that received incident investigation training. 

Amendments to the Clean Air Act require employer-employees consultation to develop and implement PSM program elements and hazard assessments. Section 304 requires employee training and education on the findings of PSM incident investigations. 

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. 

Prevention program safety information hazard review operating procedures training maintenance incident investigation compliance audit. 

Personnel with proper training, skills, and experience are critical to the successful outcome of an incident investigation. This chapter describes team composition as a function of incident type, complexity, and severity as well as suggested training topics. It also provides team leaders with a high-level overview of the basic team activities typically required in the course of conducting an investigation. 

Chapter 7 provides details on the training, selection, and organization of incident investigation teams. 

Complex Incidents Investigation Team Leader Training... 

BP (formerly BP Amoco). Incident Investigation. Root Cause Analysis Training. Comprehensive List of Causes. London, 1999. 

External resources may he needed if the incident investigation work exceeds site capahilities. These resources could include corporate personnel or experts from outside the company. (The team leader may also he external if the incident is major since the leader s independence sets the tone for the investigation.) Company business unit leaders should confer with the team leader to determine whether external assistance is recommended. Factors to consider include significant offsite consequences such as environmental impact or product quality concerns. A team of trained specialists should formally investigate any process incident that could significantly affect the business. At the lower end of the scale, if a near miss or minor incident occurs that has no potential for significant consequences, local supervision or front-line personnel normally may perform the investigation without outside assistance. 

Some organizations establish a highly trained and specialized corporate incident investigation staff as a preparatory measure for rare major catastrophic incidents. The ability to deploy the trained team quickly is essential. The faster the team is in place, the higher the quality of the data they collect. 

Experienced incident investigators know that such specific failures are but the immediate causes of an incident, and that underlying each such immediate cause is a management system failure, such as faulty design or inadequate training.. . . ... 

ABS Consulting. Incident Investigation/Root Cause Analysis Training Results Trending and Assessment. Knoxville, TN ABS Consulting, 2001. 

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