INGENIEUR
Workplace Incident Site
Investigation
By Ir. Tajul Ariffin Mohamed Nori
Factories and Machinery Inspector
Investigation and Prosecution Section
Department of Occupational Safety and Health Selangor
W
orkplace incidents may interrupt
production activities or business
operations. The term is related to events
or situations occurring from any course of work
which affects workers or public welfare, health and
safety. This may or may not involve injuries, illness,
or in worse case scenarios, fatalities. In some
cases, incidents may result in property damage.
Victims may undergo serious trauma which might
result in the loss of a limb, for example, which
would cause him/her to cease operational activity
either temporarily or permanently.
There are numerous reasons why an
investigation should be carried out. Law
enforcement officers might need to determine
whether there was any violation of the law that
led to the incident and to decide whether any
punitive actions should be imposed on the
involved party. Some might try to benefit from
deficiencies inherent in the occupational safety
and health management system that caused the
incident. Human resource managers might need
to process compensation claims arising from the
incident. Most importantly, the main objective
of investigation is to ensure the causes of an
incident can be identified and the right corrective
actions or improvements can be made to ensure
that similar incidents will not be repeated.
6
44
VOL
2018
VOL 76
55 OCTOBER-DECEMBER
JUNE 2013
An effective and thorough investigation
should be carried out as soon as possible to find
the underlying and root causes of the incident. A
structured investigation process is important to
ensure all elements that lead to an incident can
be identified before any corrective action is taken.
Small or large, occurrences of dangerous incidents
are opportunities to avoid any recurrence. Reactive
investigations of each incident will demonstrate
organisational commitment to a safe and healthful
work environment.
Investigations may be conducted by a single
person or a team. It is the function of an established
Safety and Health Committee to investigate an
incident as mandated by Occupational Safety
and Health Act (OSHA) 1994. In many workplaces
the investigating team is known as the incident
response team or emergency response team (ERT)
and is composed of members trained to respond
to an incident. The person responsible for carrying
out an investigation maybe a regulator, operations
manager, safety manager, safety and health
officer, supervisor at the workplace, or possibly an
ad hoc person who is directed to determine the
cause of the incident. Some fundamental guidance
for investigators is essential and the details set
out in this article will guide any responsible person
when carrying out a workplace investigation.