MODULE 6: EFFECTIVE INCIDENT / ACCIDENT ANALYSIS

Gathering information

Now you've gathered lots of information about the accident, and it's piled high on your desk. What do you do with it? It's important that you read through the information initially to develop an accurate sequence of events that led up to and included the accident. See what an accident investigation sequence of events might look like below.

Sample accident investigation event sequence

The following is a sequence of events of an accident that actually occurred a few years ago.

1. Employee #1 returned to work at 12:30 PM after lunch to continue laying irrigation pipes.
2. At approximately 12:45 PM employee #1 began dumping accumulated sand and laying the irrigation mainline pipe.
3. Employee #1 oriented the pipe vertically and it contacted a high voltage power line directly over the work area.
4. Employee #2 heard a "zap" and turned to see the mainline pipe falling and employee #1 falling into the irrigation ditch.
5. Employee #2 ran to employee #1 and pulled him from the irrigation ditch, laid him on his back and ran about 600 ft. to his truck and placed a call for help on his mobile phone.
6. About four minutes later, paramedics arrived and began to administer CPR on employee #1. They also used a heart defibrillator in an attempt to stabilize employee #1.
7. At about 1:10 p.m., an ambulance arrived and transported employee #1 to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:30 p.m.

Safety Certified Supervisor Course 102, Accident Investigation, goes into more detail on this subject.