We spend a lot of time in the safety world finding ways to prevent incidents. We try to anticipate them, categorize them in degrees of potential severity, and control for them. Focus on prevention is very important, but it means that training on what to do immediately after an incident can sometimes be missed. While those first few steps might seem common sense, it can seem less that way when you're actually facing a situation. There may be a lot of moving pieces, adrenaline, and concern for someone who may be injured. Let's break this all down in order of what you should do and when.
1. Deal with any immediate hazards - making sure that whatever caused the incident is not going to immediately be a hazard for anyone else. This means taking quick steps to rectify the situation, including evacuating an area if that makes sense and securing it so no one else enters.
2. Administer first aid. If you're dealing with an injury, follow first aid protocol. OSHA states that you must have a first aid plan in place. If you're extremely close to a healthcare facility, that could maybe mean relying on their support, but for most employers that will mean making sure enough employees have first aid training to cover any emergencies.
3. Involve more healthcare professionals as necessary. Does the person require a 911 call and ambulance transportation? Again, it's important to rely on your employees' first aid training, which will include how to assess a situation like this. Also, if you already have a relationship with an occupational health provider, they may offer more resources to assist.
4. Once these steps are taken, make sure to document the scene as soon and thoroughly as possible. Pictures, videos, and interviews of those who witnessed the event are all important. Documentation is described more deeply in TT&S' Incident Investigations training, so feel free to reach out if you would like more resources. Make sure the scene is preserved as well in case a more thorough investigation is required.
5. Determine whether you will need to report the incident to authorities, such as OSHA or the EPA, as well as your worker's compensation insurance.
6. If a major incident has occurred, consider retaining legal counsel. This is a step that not only protects the company, but also any involved individuals.
-------- The following steps are not immediate and are longer-term
7. If you will be supporting an individual coming back to work after an injury, work closely with the individual and your worker's compensation insurer, who may provide a case manager. Consider ways to accommodate their recovery beyond what is required by their healthcare team.
8. If you are able to continue on with a simple internal investigation (for less severe incidents), use the documentation gathered after the incident to conduct an investigation. Your goal is to uncover the root cause(s) of the incident, and to do so in a way where no employees feel they are being blamed for the incident.
9. Have a plan for whatever action items come up as a result of the investigation. Make sure someone is tracking whether these action items are completed, and that they are all assigned to a specific person or team.
10. Consider the best way to communicate with the rest of the company about the incident. You can craft an overarching plan for how incidents will be communicated to employees, or looser guidelines that allow some case-by-case flexibility. Consider issues like respecting involved employees' privacy, how to not point fingers after an incident, and ways to communicate what changes are taking place to prevent a repeat incident.
There's a lot of other considerations embedded in these steps, but these are a great start. Consider holding a team training for managers or even an all hands training so expectations are clear on what to do after an incident. We hope it never comes in handy, but we can hope you will be prepared if it does.
No comments:
Post a Comment