Why Do You Need an Effective EHS Incident Reporting and Investigation Program?
An effective incident reporting and investigation process ensures organizations:
What Should Your Incident Management Program Include?
An effective incident management program needs to clearly outline:
Incident Types
Define the incident types that need to be reported and investigated.
Responsibilities
- Methods and timelines for reporting incidents
- Reporting incidents to the appropriate people
- Responding to incidents
- Investigating incidents
Investigation Procedures
Methods and timelines for investigating incidents.
Training Requirements
How and when employees will be trained on incident reporting and investigation procedures.
Communication
How incident information will be communicated to affected employees.
Recordkeeping
How incident and investigation records will be maintained.
Tracking and Trending
Methods for tracking incidents and associated root causes as well as the corrective actions taken to prevent similar incidents from recurring.
What Incident Types Should Be Reported and Investigated?
Actual incidents (e.g., injuries, accidents, and spills) and potential incidents (e.g., near misses and unsafe conditions) should be immediately reported. Reports should be made to a person who has the knowledge and authority to summon the resources needed to respond to and control the incident.
Who Should Be Responsible for Reporting and Investigating Incidents?
The responsible reporting of incidents is crucial, typically falling to the individual who directly witnessed or experienced the event. Alternatively, if the primary individual is unable to initiate the report, someone well-acquainted with the incident details may undertake the reporting process. This approach ensures accurate and comprehensive incident documentation for further analysis and action.
Methods and Timelines for Reporting Incidents
The appropriate people within an organization should be quickly notified of incidents. Doing so ensures that swift and correct action is taken (e.g., emergency services are contacted and mitigation steps are implemented) and that all needed resources are identified.
Immediate Notification
Immediate notifications may be communicated in person, by phone, radio, or other verbal means. Incident Reporting Apps, such as Ecesis, may be used as they have the advantage of delivering targeted alerts based on incident types and locations in a quick and efficient manner.
Written / Follow-Up Notification
Once immediate notifications have been made and critical response actions have been taken, incident-related details should be documented in writing and maintained according to company policy and procedure. An incident reporting software solution such as the Ecesis Incident Tracking and Reporting solution can help companies document any type of incident.
Methods and Timelines for Investigating Incidents
When to Start? Investigations should begin as soon as possible after an incident occurs to ensure important details are not lost or forgotten.
Who to Include in the Incident Investigation Team? Teams should be multi-disciplinary and include those who:
- Are familiar with details of the incident
- Are familiar with the processes involved in the incident
- Have authority to implement corrective and preventive actions that come out of the investigation
What Steps to Take? Incident investigations should generally follow these steps:
Collect Information
Walk the incident scene, interview those involved, interview witnesses, gather equipment, and process information.
Determine Facts and Sequence of Events
After collecting information on the incident, analyze the information and organize the facts and sequence of events associated with the incident.
Determine Contributing Factors
Using the facts and sequence of events, brainstorm and document the incident's contributing factors.
Determine Root Causes
Determine the root cause of each contributing factor. It may be helpful to use a 5-Why or Fishbone analysis method.
Determine and Assign Corrective Actions
When one or more root causes have been identified, determine and assign corrective actions that will prevent further incidents from occurring.
Employee Training
Employees need to be trained on incident reporting requirements at time of hire. All employees should receive continual training on incident reporting, especially when the reporting methods change.
Communicating Incident Information to Employees
Employees must be informed of incidents and the immediate actions they can take to prevent similar events from occurring in their work areas. This may be done using a flash report that includes a high-level description of the incident along with its root causes and actions employees should take to prevent similar incidents.
Incident Recordkeeping Requirements
Maintaining incident-related records is important for:
- Maintaining a historical reference of the incident and actions taken to avoid recurrence
- Monitoring trends to establish the effectiveness of safety improvements
- Meeting regulatory reporting obligations
Tracking and Trending Incident Information
Individual incidents should be tracked to ensure they are properly investigated and that appropriate corrective actions are taken and the effectiveness of corrective actions is verified.
Organizations should also track incident metrics over time to determine if safety performance is improving and when additional corrective and preventive actions are needed:
Lagging Indicators
- Incidents by type and time
- DART rate (days away, restrictions, or job transfers) over time
- Vehicle accidents by miles driven
Leading Indicators
- Unsafe condition and near miss reporting
- Performance observations
- Safety audits performed
- Safety training completed
Leading metrics help organizations gain a better understanding of hazards before they become incidents and allow regulatory agencies to see steps taken to proactively mitigate hazards in the workplace.
What Do I Need to Do?
Get started today by establishing an effective incident reporting and investigation process:
Educate Senior Leadership
Establish the importance of incident investigation and reporting. Identify a corporate champion who can:
- Provide the resources needed to report and investigate incidents as well as implement corrective actions
- Establish an incentive program or reward for compliance
- Discourage non-compliance through implementation of an effective discipline program
Document Your Process
Have a written policy in place for reporting, managing, investigating, recording, and tracking/trending incidents.
Train Your Employees
What is each employee expected to do in response to an incident and how will they accomplish that?
Practice
Hold drills to ensure your employees are knowledgeable on how to respond to an incident and that your organization's programs and resources are adequate. Identified issues should be assigned corrective actions that are tracked to completion.
Communicate Frequently
Share timely information on incidents as they occur and actions that need to be taken to prevent recurrence.
Track and Share Your Progress
Track incidents and regularly communicate both good and bad trends associated with the occurrence of incidents.
How Can We Help?
Our subject matter experts can help you:
- Develop, document, and implement an effective incident reporting and investigation process
- Train employees
- Investigate incidents and develop effective corrective actions
- Hold and learn from incident drills and exercises
- Help your company meet its incident investigation and reporting obligations
Our Incident Reporting and Investigation Software can help you report, investigate, and manage your incidents in one user-friendly tool.
Incident Management
Report, investigate, and track incidents with root cause analysis.
Training Management
Track incident reporting training requirements and completions.
Mobile App
Report incidents from the field with targeted alerts and notifications.
Task Management
Assign and track corrective actions to completion.
Compliance Obligations
Manage regulatory reporting requirements and deadlines.
Emergency Planning
Maintain response plans and conduct emergency drills.
