Ebook: Accident investigation – To Make An On-site Accident Repetition Unlikely

In 2017, the construction industry accounted for 21% of all worker fatalities occurring in the US, while figures have shown that injuries on-site can increase the overall costs involved by up to 15%. Once an accident occurs on-site, the most important thing to do is to care for the person involved, but if the five questions of ‘what’, ‘when, ‘who’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ are not answered through effective post-accident investigation, then:

  • This accident could occur again.
  • The cause of an accident could be mistaken for another, e.g. it was caused by malfunctioning machinery, not a lack of sufficient training.
  • Underlying causes may not have been discovered, e.g. the person slipped on water and fell (direct cause) but the person who spilled it had nothing to clear it up with (underlying).

To easily explain post-accident investigation, it can be divided into the reporting and analysis of four key categories that are discussed in this eBook.

  • Position: why nothing should be moved and photography is so important.
  • People: the importance of eye-witness reports, why they could be inaccurate and how to make this less likely.
  • Parts: always consulting an expert, deciding whether or not replacement is necessary or whether a lack of sufficient training was the main cause.
  • Paper: the documents which should always be accessible and also reports which should be made and stored after an accident.

With one in five workplace deaths occurring in the US construction industry, this makes it clear why sufficient post-accident investigation is vital in the heavy industry. Problems such as a lack of sufficient training can often go unnoticed and the cause of an accident may not have been recorded, meaning this form of accident could easily happen again.

If a lack of sufficient training has been recognized as the reason why an accident occurred, some of the benefits offered by GoContractor include the workers ability the learn the information required from a safe location and at their own pace.   

This eBook goes into more detail on:

  • The main steps of post-accident investigation.
  • Accurate post-accident reporting for effective post-accident analysis.
  • How to prevent an accident from happening again.    
  • What should be done if an accident does reoccur?
  • Whether there are any changes which need to be made today.

Download this Ebook to find out how to determine these causes through post-accident investigation and how to prevent an accident from reoccurring.