To manage Health and Safety appropriately and effectively it is necessary to find out what happened, and why it happened in the event of an accident or incident.

While prevention is the best approach, when there is an accident or incident this can be an opportunity to find out what went wrong.  Learning from the events, and taking appropriate action may reduce, or even prevent, accidents in the future. A clear and true snapshot of what really happened, and how work is really done can be valuable in determining how to make changes to ensure there is no reoccurrences of incidents.

Investigating “near misses” and treating other identified safety issues as “good catches “is very useful and should form part of investigation policies.

Investigation incidents can prevent further business losses due to disruption, stoppage, lost orders and the costs of criminal and civil legal actions. The investigation findings will also provide essential information for your insurers in the event of a claim.

An improvement in employee morale and attitude towards health and safety, when they see that safety issues are dealt with appropriately, can also be a very positive outcome. Employees should be consulted and involved in the outcome of investigations and decisions around inputting control measures for prevention.