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Incident investigations are a critical part of your safety program and safety culture. When an incident occurs, when and how you address it is equally as important as what you address and why. If you “tell” employees that safety is important but fail to “show” your commitment through prompt and thorough investigations of incidents, you de-value your word and lose face with your people.
OSHA defines an incident as "an unplanned, undesired event that adversely affects completion of a task." In the past, the term "accident" was used to refer to an unplanned, unwanted event. To many, "accident" suggests an event was random and could not have been prevented. Since nearly all worksite fatalities, injuries, and illnesses are preventable, OSHA now suggests using the term "incident" ( a term I have used for 25 years) to address any event in which an unwanted outcome occurs. This includes injury, illness, property damage, or near-miss (I prefer, “near-hit”), otherwise known as a close-call.