This year we released the tenth edition of Incidents, Accidents, and Near Misses in Laboratory Research! This annual publication includes real-life examples of safety incidents, procedural deviations, and unexpected adverse consequences of laboratory activities. By understanding the gaps that led to these issues and how they were resolved, insight can be gained into effective strategies that can help improve safety practices at your organization.
From Flood Alert! to Little Fires = Big Problems, the stories in this edition highlight the critical importance of reporting and recording all incidents, including near misses.
As described by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on their Incident Investigation website, both incident reporting, and the follow-up investigation, are vital for many reasons including those noted below.
- Safety program improvement: Unknown hazards may be identified and addressed proactively, leading to more effective safety policies and procedures.
- Recurrence prevention: The event cause(s) can be analyzed, allowing organizations to implement corrective actions to prevent similar, and/or more serious incidents, reducing the risk of injury to employees.
- Safety culture enhancement: Encouraging employee reporting and conducting investigations that focus on objectively identifying underlying causes, and not finding fault or blame, can improve workplace morale and the overall safety culture.
- Regulatory compliance and liability protection: Detailed and accurate incident documentation ensures compliance with regulations, and helps protect against potential liability issues.
- Avoiding unnecessary costs: Implementing appropriate corrective actions can prevent business interruptions, damage to equipment or property, higher insurance premiums, and regulatory fines.
Reporting and Investigation Process
All incidents should be reported internally immediately, regardless of severity, and certain work-related cases must also be reported to OSHA. Depending on your organization’s system for reporting, the paper or online form should be completed by the employee(s) involved in the incident, with input from their supervisor and any other employees who may have witnessed the event.
It should capture as much factual information as possible and be detailed enough so that someone reading the report could visualize what happened. This requires both general information, such as the incident location and date, witnesses involved, and materials and equipment being used, as well as specific details like the volume of materials and the manipulations being conducted when the incident occurred. In addition, if there was an exposure or injury it should be described, including any first aid that was performed or medical treatment received.
Safety representatives and other team members investigating the incident must look beyond what may seem like an immediate and obvious cause, such as not following a procedure. It’s important to determine the underlying reason(s) an incident occurred by conducting a root cause analysis or the equivalent. This will allow for the identification of systemic changes and measures needed to prevent future events.
It’s important to consider all possible “what,” “why,” and “how” questions to discover the systemic causes(s) of an incident. For instance, if a program shortcoming is identified, why it existed and why it was not previously addressed should be determined.
Questions to ask include the following:
- If a procedure or safety rule was not followed, why was that the case?
- Did production or time pressures play a role, and, if so, why was that allowed to take place?
- Was the procedure outdated or was safety training inadequate? If yes, why wasn’t the deficiency previously identified, or if it had been, why had it not been revised?
Based on the findings of the incident investigation, organizations can implement the appropriate corrective action(s) which may include management system improvements, process updates, revised safety protocols, additional engineering controls, revising administrative procedures, and/or providing targeted employee training.
Investigating the underlying cause(s) of all incidents, including near misses, is crucial to reduce employee risk and ensure continuous safety program improvement. To learn more about the benefits of effective incident management firsthand, don’t forget to read our Tenth Edition of Incidents, Accidents, and Near Misses in Laboratory Research. For help with your organization’s incident prevention, reporting, and investigation process—contact us!
