Learning from Safety Failure
RoSPA Accident Investigation Challenge supported by TUC, CBI, IOSH and ABI
Annex 1 - Accident investigation resources and guidance
Publicly available sources of technical guidance
There are significant public domain materials freely available via Internet. Details of some of these are given below. These are, however, more appropriate for larger businesses and do require the user to translate documents prepared with a particular corporate audience in mind (the US Dept of Energy). For many users, the value of the materials far outweighs the encumbrance of unusual phraseology and DOE specific instructions. Smaller organisations, or at least those with Internet access, are less likely to find these documents appropriate to their needs. This is not because the logic of the investigation methods and techniques are inappropriate to smaller businesses; the mismatch is more in the implicit organisational and resource assumptions of the guidance.
Whilst the needs of smaller organisations may not be expressly catered for in the above resources, there is at least one notable resource produced by the Printing Industry Advisory Committee and supplied free by HSE: "Investigation of Accidents and Ill Health in the Printing Industry " (HSC - Printing Industry Advisory Committee (PIAC) HSE Books, 1993 IAC/L97). However, the documents mentioned above whilst very valuable do not constitute a substitute for training nor do they attempt to act as open learning materials for which there is a distinct need.
Methods and materials
As indicated, there are publicly available sources of guidance. The US Dept of Energy has maintained a policy of availability for accident investigation literature. Since 1994 this has been via the medium of the Internet. The methods and materials are well developed, professional and subject to periodic revision.
The DOE Workbook: Conducting Accident Investigations
This is a comprehensive guide to organisation and practice in accident investigation. However, it is most suitable for large organisations and would certainly be off-putting and less appropriate for other users.
Also available from the DOE are monographs on major methods of analytical investigation, for example: The Management Oversight and Risk Tree (MORT), and Events & Causal Factors Analysis (ECFA).
Published Texts and Videos
There is a general discussion of accident investigation in HSE's 'Successful Health and Safety Management ' (HSG65).
Investigation is also covered in TUC guidance for safety representatives in the relevant chapter of its publication, 'Hazards at Work'
General H&S textbooks usually have some coverage of accident investigation and most of these reference Ted Ferry's Accident Investigation ('Modern Accident Investigation and Analysis' Ferry, T.S. - 1998- John Wiley and Sons) which remains the standard text on the subject.
Seven video titles are available that deal explicitly with accident investigation. These range from 12 to 28 minutes in length.
- Accident and Incident Investigation. Pub. Training Video Associates.
- Accident Investigation: Getting The Facts. Pub. Industrial Training Systems Corp. Technical Video Sales.
- Accident Investigation: Putting The Pieces Together. Pub. Comprehensive Loss Management Inc. (distrib. Edward Patterson Assoc. Ltd).
- Better Make Sure. Pub. Post Office (distrib. RoSPA).
- One Million Hours: Accident Investigation. Pub. Training Direct.
- So It Won't Happen Again. Pub. National Film Board of Canada (distrib. Educational Media International)
- What Really Happened? Pub. British Telecommunications plc.
Regulatory requirements for accident investigation
There are specific requirements for investigation in the following regulations:
- Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996
- The Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 1994
- The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985
- Control of Major Hazard regulations (COMAH)
- The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977
Other HSC/E publications
There are a number of other HSC/E publications that deal mainly with the development of the proposed new duty to investigate:
- HSC Discussion Document: DDE 9 'The duty to investigate accidents' August 2000
- HSE publishes new guidance July 2004. Copies of ‘Investigating accidents and incidents - a workbook for employers, unions, safety representatives and safety professionals’ (HSE Ref. HSG245) are available from HSE Books, ISBN 0 7176 2827 2, price £9.50.
|
RoSPA is a registered charity: Registered Charity No: 207823 Patron: Her Majesty the Queen RoSPA Head Office: Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7ST, UK |
 |