Supervisor s report of accident

Employees known to have been overexposed to hazardous chemicals shall receive prompt medical attention. The employee will be sent to a medical facility or specialist as assigned by XYZ. Additionally, a first report of accident must be completed by the employee s supervisor and a copy must be sent to the Human Resource and Safety Divisions. 

On large jobs, the foreman or supervisor is often required to keep a report of the relevant events which happen on the site - for example, how many people from your company are working on site each day, what goods were delivered, whether there were any breakages or accidents, and records of site meetings attended. Some firms have two separate documents a site diary to record daily events and a weekly report which is a summary of the week s events extracted from the site diary. The site diary remains on-site and the weekly report is sent to Head Office to keep managers informed of the work s progress. 

All accidents will be investigated to determine causal factors and prevent future recurrences of similar accidents. A written report of investigation findings will be prepared by each injured employee s supervisor and submitted to management for... 

Whenever an accident is reported, the supervisor of the injured workerfs) should respond to the scene of the accident as soon as possible and complete the supervisor s accident report. All witnesses should be interviewed privately as soon as possible after the accident. If possible, the supervisor should interview the worker(s) at the scene of the accident so that events leading up to the accident can be re-enacted. 

Observation They were teaching supervisors that a variation of Heinrich s premise—88 percent of accidents are caused principally by worker unsafe acts—was factual. Their number was 80 percent. Understandably, the supervisors responded to what they were taught and investigation reports were of little value. Safety professionals—ask yourselves— what is being taught to personnel who complete incident investigation reports ... 

It is commonly said in the literature, as Ted Ferry (1981) did in Modem Accident Investigation and Analysis An Executive Guide, that the supervisor is closest to the action, that the mishap takes place in the supervisor s domain, and that initial responsibility for investigation is very often assigned to the supervisor (9). Ferry went on to say that being close to a situation may preclude a supervisor from taking an unbiased approach to causal factors that may reflect on his own performance or that of people to whom he reports (9). 

Figure 19.2. An example of a supervisor s accident investigation report.

The ITCI checklist on causal factors at the workplace level is based on a man-environment dichotomy, because it distinguishes between individual and workplace-related causal factors. The latter category also includes management factors such as leadership and supervision. It has been developed from practical experience and does not represent a taxonomy. Some of the items or classes in the checklist are overlapping, for example, inadequate equipment and inadequate engineering. This causes problems of reliability in the classification of causal factors. Whereas Swain s checklist is intended for use by human-factor experts, the ILCI checklist is used by the supervisors in their first report on accidents and incidents. This also causes problems of reliability in applications of the checklist, because especially the individual factors are subject to interpretation and value judgements. 

Efforts should be made to simplify the form for the registration of accidents and near accidents as far as possible. It is an important principle that the design of the form shall not create a barrier towards the reporting and investigation of accidents and near accidents. Some of the data are fed directly into the computer and need not show up on the form for the supervisor s first report. No specific form is needed for the in-depth investigations. Checklists should be developed to support the investigations. There are also other tools to be considered such as checklists and record sheets for use in workplace inspections, risk analyses and SHE audits. 

There should be a laid down procedure for investigating accidents with, ideally, the supervisor of the section where it occurred carrying out an immediate examination. If the seriousness of the accident warrants it, a further examination by a qualified specialist, such as a safety adviser, engineer etc., should be carried out. How the findings of these examinations are recorded will depend on the sophistication of the firm s organisation, but could be a pre-printed form or as a manuscript report or a combination of the two. 

See that, in a case of serious injury, the injured empioyee receives prompt medicai attention isoiate the area or shut down equipment, as necessary and immediateiy report to the site manager the facts regarding the empioyee s accident or iiiness and any action taken. In serious incident cases, the supervisor determines the cause, takes immediate steps to correct an unsafe condition, and isoiates area and/or shuts down the equipment, as necessary. They immediateiy report facts and action taken to the manager. 

Because accidents must be reported to supervisors immediately, all laboratories must post a list of emergency telephone numbers. Although generic accident report forms are available (Fig. 19.2), it is recommended that the winery develop its own forms to document accidents as well as those used by supervisors conducting accident investigations. Required information includes names and telephone numbers of the injured and witnesses, the date, time, and location of the incident, a description of the incident, the involved department(s), and the contract person and telephone number. 

The future rupture site was declared by an employee of Olympic s construction supervisor to be too wet to permit excavation at that time. This was reported to a junior engineer in Olympic, who says he was told they would go back and try again when the area was dry. Tragically, no further action was taken before the accident. 

Two types of forms can be used to report personal injuries, depending on their seriousness. One form would be used for accidents in which the injury does not require a doctor s attention but can be handled by first aid at the job site. This form provides the necessary information in case the injury becomes more serious at a later date. The second from is more detailed in nature and is used when a doctor s attention is required. The employee is responsible for reporting an injury, while the supervisor is responsible for correctly preparing the proper forms. Serious accidents should be investigated by the safety manager, who can determine the corrective actions. 

Supervisors/forepersons will conduct an investigation of any accident/incident that results in death, injury, illness, or equipment damage. The supervisor will use the company s standard investigation form (see example. Figure 7.6). The completed accident investigation report will be submitted to the individual assigned responsibility for occupational safety and health. 

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