Setting Up a Closed-Loop Reporting System

If there is an immediate threat to human life, employees should immediately call emergency responders (911 or an equivalent number) if the plant has trained emergency response personnel. An accident report form must be filled out within 24 h of the incident. It is critical to capture as much information as possible about events leading up to the accident. Prompt and factual reporting of accidents facilitates accident investigation and acquisition of necessary information that will eventually go into the system safety analyses and be incorporated into the company SMS. If the accident is serious, an investigation board should be set up immediately. All accidents should be investigated. 

The accident report should be put online (in the safety knowledge management system, see Chapter 10) so that all accident statistics can be tracked. This will allow you to trend useful information to determine if the hazard controls are adequate or if there is some underlying problem that has not been resolved. 

After the immediate threat to human life has been resolved, it is important to contact the safety representative (see Chapter 10) for that particular area. The safety rep should track all the incidents that occur in his or her area. If the rep is not informed of what happened, he or she will not be able to prevent its recurrence. 

The corporate chief engineer should manage the accident reporting system for the entire company. If accident investigation does not get the priority and visibility needed, it will be ineffectual, and there will be no way to ensure that the accident (or one like it) will not happen again. 

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