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Thousands of accidents occur throughout the world every day. The failure of people, equipment, supplies, or environment causes most of them. Accident investigations determine how and why these failures occur. By using the information gained through an investigation, a similar, or perhaps more disastrous, accident may be averted. The term “accident prevention program” refers to a written plan to prevent accidents, illnesses, and injuries on the job. There are currently no specific standards for accident investigation however a safe and healthy workplace should be the ultimate goal for all involved from top management to the floor worker and will make a Accident Prevention program a priority. One of the most important roles that managers must deal with in the workplace is the role of safety managers. Accidents and medical emergencies are the most common crisis that must be addressed. Many accidents are due to worker error or dangerous procedures. Studies have shown that most significant factor in injuries were employee errors, followed by equipment insufficiencies and procedure insufficiencies. These factors could be addressed with better training and prevention. Looking at the environment and consider the below factor when developing an Aaccident Prevention Program: * Identifying and eliminating high-risk activities * Design jobs with current and anticipated workers in mind * Tailor safety-training programs to your employees * Empower employees to engage in accident prevention and job design * Treat accidents as performance errors * Establish behavior-based safety-management programs * Train supervisors in confrontation-management skills * Change mundane routines * Empower employees to be responsible for their equipment * Establish an ergonomic approach to workplace design * Develop training programs based on behavior modeling * Develop programs to eliminate workplace illiteracy * Establish multilingual training programs Managers should determine what their policy is for dealing with accidents and medical emergencies. Once managers create a policy, they should review it with legal counsel and their insurance company. To help prevent accidents, a safety program should have the following elements: * Top management support and involvement * Job-specific pre-employment physicals for certain job classes * A written policy statement of the company’s commitment to safety and what the the company expects of its employees, given to all employees * A safety committee with the power to enforce compliance with safety rules * Input from line employees on safety matters * Regular safety inspections of the workplace * Realistic goals for accident reduction, with progress closely monitored and reductions rewarded * Supervisor-level accountability for accident reduction * A modified-duty program to return injured employees to work sooner * Signs, contests, rewards and health fairs to create a heightened sense of safety awareness among company personnel * Training, retraining and more retraining OSHA requires that first aid be available to workers at all times, either by having someone trained in first aid on each shift or by being within seven minutes of a hospital. Part of an accident policy should address how the operation will ensure that someone trained in first aid is working each shift. This person should know what to do in emergency situations and also know what NOT to do, because some actions could increase an operation’s liability. Managers should make sure that an accurate record is kept of each accident and medical emergency. A member of management should obtain statements from any witnesses and carefully examine the accident site. If a slip or fall was involved, the manager should ask what type of shoes the victim was wearing, whether the person had any physical disabilities, what the weather was and what the lighting was like. All of this information should be recorded in an incident report. This report can help an operation defend itself against a liability suit in court.
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