Why should you investigate incidents at your facility?  Hundreds upon thousands of accidents take place everyday injuring fellow employees without the completion of a proper incident investigation. The failure of our equipment, supplies, policies, procedures, and personnel cause most of the work related incidents. A thorough incident investigation not only determines what happened, but also how and why the incident occurred. Proper investigations should prevent similar or more disastrous incidents from occurring through recommendations to policies, procedures, personnel or equipment.  

• All work related incidents and near misses should be investigated. 
• The depth at which the investigation is completed will vary greatly due to the seriousness of the incident. 
• The first priority is to deal with the emergency and ensure that any injuries or illnesses receive prompt medical attention.
• The investigation should begin as soon as possible to ensure the details leading up to and after the accident are accurate and fresh in people’s minds.
• During the investigation process, you should be asking WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and WHY.

The State Office of Risk Management can assist state agencies with incident investigation as well as train your staff on proper incident investigation skills. The incident investigation training will provide your staff with the tools required to conduct proper investigations through group exercises and increasing their report writing skills. 

If you have any questions about scheduling an incident investigation or would like training for your agency, please contact Nick Witkowski.

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