Conducting an Accident Investigation
Course 102
Safety Certified Supervisor Series

MODULE 4: ANALYZING THE ACCIDENT PROCESS

Each event in the unplanned accident process describes a unique:

• Actor. An individual or object that directly influenced the flow of the sequence of events. An actor may participate in the process or merely observe the process. An actor initiates a change by performing or failing to perform an action.
• Action. Something that is done by an actor. Actions may or may not be observable. An action may
  describe something that is done or not done. Failure to act should be thought of as an act in itself.

It's important to understand that when describing events, first indicate the actor, then tell what the actor does. Remember, the actor is the "doer," not the person or object being acted upon or otherwise having something done to them. For instance, take a look at the statement below:

"Bob unhooked the lifeline from the harness."

In this example, "Bob" is the actor and "unhooking" is the action. First we describe the actor.. .Bob. Then we describe the action.. .unhooking. The lifeline and harness, although "objects" are not actors because they are not performing an action. Rather, something is being done to them. Also note that the statement is written in active tense.