Module 1

Occupational Hazard and Control Principles

INTRODUCTION
In the early 1900 industrial accidents were common in most of the countries. For example, in 1907
over 3200 people were killed in mining activity in United States (US). During this period
legislation president and public opinion all favored management. There was only little protection
for workers safety. Then the people began national safety council in 1913 in Chicago, a board
based organization with thousands of members from business industry, agriculture, education,
labor and government. The development of safety movement in US has paralled that of national
safety council (NSC).
Working conditions for the industrial employees today have improved significantly. The chance
of a worker being killed in an industrial accident is less than what it was in the earlier days.
Improvements in safety until now have been the result of pressure for legislation to promote safety
and health, steadily increasing cost associated with accidents and injuries and the
professionalization of safety as an occupational.
HISTORY OF OSHA
During industrial revolution, child labor in factories was common. The working hour were long,
the hard work and the conditions often unhealthy and unsafe following an outbreak of fever among
children working in cotton mills, the people of ‘Manchester’, England began demanding better
working condition in the factories. Public pressure eventually forced a government response and
in 1802 “the health and morals of apprentices act” was passed this was a mile stone piece of
legislation. It marked the beginning of government involvement in work place safety.
Factory inspection was introduced in Massachusetter in 1867, In 1869 Pennsylvania legislation act
passed on mine safety. The bureau of labor statistics (BLS) was established in 1869 to study
industrial accident and report relative to inform about those accidents. In 1877 the first legislation
requiring the use of guards for hazardous machinery was passed.

DEVELOPMENT OF SAFETY PROGRAMS

The first recorded safety program began in response to ‘Joliet plant’ of Illinois steel company in
1892. A committee of plant executives was formed to evaluate the problem and their first action
was to inspect and test all fly wheels in the plant. Gradually other high injury industries took similar
action but, it was not until workman compensation laws became general that accident prevention
programs received serious attention the national safety council (NSC, 1912) promotes safety
through compilation and dissimilation of safety information and promotion of safety
consciousness.
As industry became more aware of safety, methods to prevent accident were developed and
engineer efforts to train and educate workers were undertaken and safety rules were established
and enforced. Safety programs were built upon the principles of the “3 E’s of safety”- Engineering,
Education and Enforcement. The success of these traditional safeties depends on how we build
upon.

Page 1
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
Recommendation for changes safety programs intended to continue and improve upon the
success, fall into 2 categories:
1) Federal legislation such as “occupation safety and health act”.
2) Improve safety methodology.

NATIONAL SAFETY POLICY

The National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at Work Place was declared by the
Ministry of Labor and Employment, Government of India in February 2009 after consultations
with partners. The Action Programme to implement the Policy is part of the document.
The National Policy, referring to the Constitution of India, sets out a set of goals with the view to
building and maintaining a national preventative safety and health culture and improving the
safety, health and environment at workplace. The Policy also expresses a set of the national
objectives.
The outline for Action Programme identifies eight specific working areas, including enforcement,
national standards, compliance, awareness, research and development, occupational safety and
health skills development and data collection.
After an initial review to ascertain the status on safety, health and environment at workplace, the
Policy is envisaged to be reviewed at least every five years.

BENEFITS

The Policy is not limited to large and organized sector, but extends even to Medium scale and
unorganized sectors.

The Policy Provides for

• General guidance to all the stakeholders to discharge their responsibilities in an appropriate

manner.
• Helps to create a positive safety and health culture.
• Enables development of research activities, skill development of employees, employers,
enforcement authorities, and society at large.
• Participation and cooperation of employers and employees promoting employee participation for
effective management.
• Ensures better compliance and implementation through a mechanism of accrediting competent
professionals and institutions.
• The implementation of the policy would enable timely collection, compilation, and analysis of
work related injuries, diseases, sicknesses etc. for qualitative decision making at the national level.
• It provides for OSH systems approach to be followed by the management including use of
computer aided risk assessment tools for dealing with safety, health and environment at workplace
problems.

Page 2
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles

OCCUPATION SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT

This act was passed on December 29th 1970, and became effective in 1971. Earlier laws were in
general, designed to provide compensation for occupational injuries and illness, the focus of OSH
act was prevention.
The major goal of the act was to ensure, “so for as possible every working man and woman in the
nation is safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resource”.
Everyone involved with safety must be familiar with the impacts of OSH act and compliance
procedures.
A number of ideas where proposed in the OSH act to achieve in its fundamental aim, the following
have proved to be the most important.
1) Mandatory occupational safety and health standards.
2) Effective enforcement.
3) Uniform record keeping and reporting procedures.
4) Separate but dependent responsibilities and rights of employees with respect to
achieve safe and healthful worker conditions.
5) The establishment of occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) and
national institute OSH (NIOSH).

OSH – Administration
1. OSH administration standards

The responsibility of employees to provide safe and healthful workplace is based primarily on the
standards established by OSH administration, a responsibility given by OSH act. OSH
administration standards have been categorized in several ways. The most distinction is between,
“Safety standards” which are intended to protect against traumatic injury and “Health standards”
which deals with toxic substance and long term health effects. Another distinction is based upon
the scope of standards.
i) “Horizontal standards” applied to a wide variety of operations in virtually all
industries.
ii) “Vertical standards” are developed for a specific type of employment such as
construction or telecommunication.
Many OSH administration standards are “consensus standards which have been adopted from
nationally recognized organization notably from “American national standard institute” (ANSI),
the “National Fire Protection Association” (NFPA) and the “American Society of Mechanical
Engineers” (ASME). Others have been issued through specific rule making procedures, the major
steps of which are as follows:

Page 3
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
1. OSH administration proceeds on the basis of its own information, petitions from interested
parties and recommendation from other government agencies, recommendation from (NIOSH)
form an important basis for OSH administration standards.
2. OSHA may establish an advisory committee to make recommendation for the development
of standards; requirements are laid down for the composition of advisory committee and for the
time periods within which it must act.
3. If OSHA decides that a standard should be issued, it must publish a proposed standard and
give the public at least 30 days to comment in writing. If objection to the proposals are filed and
public hearing is requested, then such a hearing must be held.
4. On the basis of entire record OSHA must either, promulgate the standard or determine that
no standard is needed and must publish a statement outlining its action.
5. Certain prescribed time frames for most stages of rule making must be followed.

There are many types of standard, all of which involve in control. The goal of good standards
should be to co-ordinate work on the same problems in order to generate routine solution which
can guide those who face similar problems in the future. There are particular characteristics which
apply to good standards.
1) It must suggest something which can be attained.
2) It should be economically feasible.
3) It should be meaning full and applicable to the situations in which it is
to be used.
4) It should be understood by its users.
5) It should be consistent in its interpretation.
6) It should be both stable and maintainable.

2. OSHA ENFORCEMENT

The act enforced OSHA standards by allowing surprise work place inspections and if violations
are found, situations could be issued and civil penalties proposed. These aspects of enforcement
have been upheld by the courts.

LAWS GOVERNING OSHA

The Factories Act, 1948, the Mines Act, 1952, The Dock Workers (Safety, Health & Welfare) Act,
1986 are some of the laws, which contain provisions regulating the health of workers in an
establishment. Whereas the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 and the Workmen’s
Compensation Act, 1923 are compensatory in nature.

1. Health Provisions under the Factories Act, 1948

The Factories Act, 1948 was enacted with the object of protecting workers from subjecting to
unduly long hours of bodily strain or manual labor. It lays down that employees should work in

Page 4
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
healthy and sanitary conditions so far as the manufacturing will allow and that precautions should
be taken for their safety and for the prevention of accidents.
The Act defines a ‘worker’ as any person employed directly or through any agency (including a
contractor), whether for remuneration or not in any manufacturing process or in any work
incidental to or connected with the manufacturing process. It is required that work performed
should be connected with the product which is produced in the manufacturing process.
Section 10 of the Act lays down that a State Government may appoint qualified medical
practitioners as ‘certifying surgeons’ to discharge the following duties:
a) Examination and certification of young persons and examination of persons engaged in
‘hazardous occupation’.
b) Exercising medical supervision where the substances used or new manufacturing processes
adopted may result in a likelihood of injury to the workers.
c) Exercising medical supervision in case of young persons to be employed in work likely to
cause injury.
Chapter IX of the Act lays down in detail the provisions relating to the health, safety and welfare
measures, namely, cleanliness, level of ventilation, diversion of dust and fumes, provision of
artificial humidification, sanitation, fencing of machinery, among others. There are also provisions
that prohibit women n\and children from working in certain occupations.
27 processes and operations have been identified as dangerous in The Maharashtra Factories Rules,
1963. These Rules lay down detailed instructions regarding preventive measures, protective
devices, cautionary notices as well as medical examination of workers. The State Governments
have adopted these rules depending on their local needs. The Act lists 29 occupational diseases
and obliges the manager of a factory and medical practitioners to notify the Chief Inspector of
Factories if any worker contracts any of the diseases. The Rules are very comprehensive in laying
down special provisions with respect to health, safety and welfare of workers including medical
examinations, setting up of Occupational Health Centers, etc. The only lapse has been its
ineffective implementation since most of the discretionary powers lie in the hands of the Inspectors
and occupiers. Although very few cases of occupational diseases are reported in factories, the
working conditions in most of the factories handling hazardous chemicals have higher risk
potential.

2. The Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Act, 1948

It is a social security legislation enacted with the object of ameliorating various risks and
contingencies sustained by workers while serving in a factory or establishment.
It is designed to provide cash benefit in the case of sickness, maternity and employment injury,
payment in the form of pension to the dependents of workers who died of employment injury and
medical benefit to workers. It recognizes the contributory principle against such contingencies,
provides protection against sickness, replaces lumpsum payments by pension in the case of
dependents benefit and places the liability for claims on a statutory organization.

Page 5
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
The Act does not cover ‘seasonal employments’. It defines ‘employment injury’ as personal injury
to employees, caused by accident or occupational diseases, in an insurable employment.
The Act lays down provisions to set up an ESI Corporation, to promote measures to improve health
and welfare of insured persons and a Medical Benefit Council to advise the Corporation on medical
benefits, certification, etc. The Medical Boards have to ascertain the percentage of disability of
injured workers before submitting their report to the Corporation in order to grant compensation
to the workers. An injured worker has to wait for months before the Medical Board calls him for
a check-up.
The main source of revenue for the ESI Fund is the Contribution paid by the employers and the
employees. The purposes for which the Fund is to be used are numerous. It includes payment of
benefits, provision of medical treatment to insured families, meet charges in connection with
medical treatment, maintenance of hospitals, dispensaries, etc. In existing conditions there is gross
misuse of these funds.
The discretionary powers with respect to using the Fund amount lie solely with the Corporation
along with the State Governments. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Center,
Mumbai, the Corporation has only 4 occupational disease centers for workers.
Section 39 of the Act makes the employer primarily liable for the payment of contribution on
behalf of himself and his employees towards the ESI Fund.
In case of misuse of the contribution by employer, the employee can sue the employer in the
Employees’ State Insurance Court set up by the respective State Government.
Where an employee makes a claim on the grounds of sickness, disablement or maternity, it has to
be made against the ESI Corporation and not against the employer. The process involved to obtain
the compensation, is tedious. Such a lapse renders the very object of the Act to provide for quick
claims as unreal.

Under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923, there exists a legal obligation on the employer to
pay compensation to workmen involved in accidents arising during the course of their
employment. The prerequisites for payment of compensation to such workmen are as follows:
• Personal injury must be caused.
• There must be temporary, total or partial disablement due to an accident, which also
includes occupational diseases.
The State Government is to appoint a Commissioner to decide the liability of an employer to pay
compensation, the amount and duration of compensation, among other issues. An appeal may lie
to the High Court in case the applicant is grieved with the Commissioner’s orders.
Compensation is decided on the nature of injury caused. Where the injury from an accident results
in the death of the workman, the minimum compensation payable is around Rs 50, 000 and the
maximum may extend to Rs 3, 00,000. In case of permanent total disablement and permanent
partial disablement, compensation may extend to Rs 60, 0000, depending on its nature. Further the
amount of compensation is calculated on the wage-group to which the workman belongs and the
time-period for which he has worked.

Page 6
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
There is no comprehensive law on occupational health, though the Central Government has in its
various policies stressed the need to effectively implement the existing laws.

3. Workman’s Compensation Act,1923

This law has done more to promote safety than all other measures, because employees found it
more cost effective to concentrate on safety than to compensate employees for injury or loss of
life. However many employees look up insurance to cover compensation claims. Over the years,
insurance companies have been a driving force in establishing and maintaining effective safety
programs, supporting research in safety and employing specialists.

THE RIGHT TO KNOW LAWS AND SARA III

Legislation or regulation that requires an employer or producer to disclose information on
hazardous material disposed, emitted, produced, stored or used in a work environment or
community is known as right to know laws. The great deal of time and money has been spent
complying with hazard communication laws, better known as right to know laws. The oldest and
the best known law is OSHA hazard communication standard enacted in 1983. This standard
requires all companies and employers handling any hazardous substance in any form to assess the
hazards associated with the substance in the work area, to inform workers of those hazards and to
train them in safe handling procedures. The environmental protection agency (EPA) has also
involved with right to know laws as a result of the “superfund amendments and reauthorization
act” (1986, of SARA III) of 1986 which requires companies to provide authorities with information
concerning toxic chemical releases and other potential chemical hazards to the community. SARA
III also encourages emergency planning efforts in response to emergencies arising from chemical
incidence.
All the right to know laws have 3 primary objectives
1) The dangerous properties of materials used or produced in the work place are determined.
2) Employees are to be trained in the recognition of and safe handling of these materials.
3) The laws force companies to disclose the presence of hazardous substances, thereby
making employees and others aware of the possible dangers.
It is known that, the task of compliance is expensive, sometimes confusing and endless, steps
should be taken to meet the requirements and do it on a cost effective basis by using the following
as building blocks.
1) Hazard determination- The material safety data sheet (MSDS).
2) The written program.
3) Training.
1) MSDS- It is a key to communication and compliance to the right to know laws. Each MSDS
must identify the particular materials or mixture, its physical and chemical characteristics, any
health hazards and other identifying criteria. Every company should develop an internal

Page 7
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
review process for MSDS from received with orders to ensure that it contains the following
minimum information.
1) The chemical and common name of the hazardous substance and for a mixture,
the proportion of each chemical and its hazardous ingredients.
2) The hazards posed by the substance, including potential for fire explosion and
reactivity.
3) Health hazards including symptoms of exposure and medical conditions
aggravated by exposure.
4) Precautions for safe handling and use including procedures for the cleaning up of
spillages and leaks.

2) WRITTENS PROGRAMS- All employers using hazardous substances, regardless of size

most comply with the written program requirements of OSHA hazard communication
standard. The program itself must describe the presence and location of hazardous
substance in the work place as well as identify the location and availability of written
program and where to find and how to use the MSDS. Labeling procedures and all other
matters related to hazardous substances.

3) TRAINING- It is required by OSHA hazard communication standard, other OSHA

standard and generally by other right to know laws. It is left to the individual companies to
decide what training program to introduce. The net result of this policy has been to yield
excellent, well taught out expensive training and re-training programs which have been
developed internally by individual companies. The minimum training program should alert
employees to the hazardous materials that they may come into contact with, emphasis the
written program, thoroughly explain the information given on an MSDS and then describe
the procedures for safe handling.

CAUSE OF ACCIDENT
An accident can be defined as any unplanned and uncontrolled event caused by human situational
or environmental factors or any combinations of these factors which interrupts the work process,
which may or may not result in injury, illness, death, property damage or other undesired events
but which has the potential to do so.
In every sphere of human activity, there is a possibility of an accident and work is no exception.
Industrial accidents are the end product of unsafe acts and unsafe conditions of work however,
accidents are preventable they don’t just happen they usually occurs as a result of the
combination of as number of factors of which 3 main factors are technical equipment’s, the
working environment and the worker. The working environment may be so noisy that it is
impossible to hear safety signals. Also the works themselves may be a contributory factor in that
they may not have received adequate training or may have little experience of the task.

Page 8
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
Accidents repeats with those people who have a deficiency, either permanent or short life, such
deficiency may be:
1) Lack of aptitude for the work.
2) Lack of certain skills and co-ordination.
3) A possible literacy problem.
4) An attitude or personality problem.
5) Alcohol or drug problems.
6) Personal life stresses.
There is unlimited number of hazards that can be found in almost any work place such as
unguarded machinery, slippery floors or in adequate fire precautions. The hazards can be
categorized as follows:
1) Chemical hazards, arising from liquids, solids, dust, fumes vapor and gases.
2) Physical hazards such as noise, vibration, unsatisfactory lighting, radiation and
extreme temperature.
3) Biological hazards such as bacteria, virus, infections waste and infestations.
4) Physiological hazards resulting from stress and strain.
5) Hazards associated with non-application of ergonomics principles like badly
designed machinery, mechanical devices and tools used by workers, improper
seating and work station design or poorly designed work practices.
Workers do not create hazards in many causes the hazards are built into the work place .This means
that the solution is to remove the hazards, not to try to get workers to adopt to unsafe conditions.
The most effective accident and disease prevention begins work process are still in the design
stage.
All the work place hazards can be controlled by variety of methods. The goal of controlling hazards
is to prevent workers from being exposed to occupational hazards. Hazard control program
includes the following components:
1) Hazard identification.
2) Ranking hazards by risk.
3) Establishing preventive and control measure.
4) Monitoring.
5) Evaluation program effectiveness and feedback.

THEORIES OF ACCIDENT CAUSATION

1. The Domino Theory of Accident Causation

An early pioneer of accident prevent and industrial safety was Herbert W Heinrich, an official with
the travelers insurance company in the late 1920’s after studying the reports of 75000 industrial
accidents , he concluded that,

1) 88% of industrial accidents are caused by unsafe acts committed by workers.

Page 9
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
2) 10% are caused by unsafe conditions.
3) 2% are unavoidable.
Heinrich’s study laid the foundation for his axioms of industrial safety and his theory of accident
causation which came to be known as the Domino Theory.

Heinrich’s axioms of industrial safety

1) Injuries result from a completed series of factors, one of which is the accident itself.
2) An accident can occur only as a result of an unsafe act by a person and a physical or
mechanical hazard.
3) Most accident is the result of unsafe behavior by the people.
4) An unsafe act by a person or an unsafe condition does not always immediately result in
an accident or injury.
5) The reason why people commit unsafe acts can serve as helpful guides in selecting
corrective actions.
6) The severity of accidents is largely by chance and the accidents that caused is
preventable.
7) The best accident prevention techniques are analogous with best quality and productivity
techniques.
8) Management should assume responsibility for safety, since it is in the best position to get
results.
9) The supervisor is the key person in the prevention of industrial accidents.
10) In addition to direct cost of an accident (i.e compensation, liability, claims, medical cost,
and hospital expenses) there are also hidden and indirect costs.

HEINRICHE’S DOMINO THEORY

According to Heinrich’s there are 5 factors in the sequence of events leading up to an accident.
Factors are as follows:
1) Ancestry and social environment = Negative character traits, that might lead people
could behave in an unsafe manners can be inherited (ancestry) or acquired as a result
of social environment.
2) Fault of person = Negative character traits, whether inherited or acquired or why
people behave in an unsafe manners and why hazardous conditions exist.
3) Unsafe act/mechanical or physical hazard - They are the direct causes of accidents
4) Typically accidents that result in injury are caused by falling or being hit by moving
objects.
5) Injury – Typical injuries resulting from accidents includes fractures and laceration.

Heinrich’s theory has 2 central points

1) Injuries are caused by the action of preceding factors.

Page 10
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
2) Removal of central factor (unsafe act or mechanical or physical hazard) negates
the action of preceding factors and in doing so prevents accidents and injuries.

2. HUMAN ERROR MODEL OR HUMAN FACTOR THEORY

I OVER LOAD

LOAD CAPACITY STATE

1. Task • Physical • Motivational level
• Physical Condition
• Information processing • State of Mind
2. Environmental • Training
• Light • Drugs or
• Noise Pollutants
• Distraction • Pressure
3. Internal • Stresses that
• Worry impair ability
• Emotional stress to respond
• Personal Problem
• Situational Factor
4. Situational
• Ambiguity of goals or criteria
• Danger

II INCOMPATIBILITY
➢ Stimulus response
• Controlled display
➢ Stimulus stimulus
• Inconsistent display type
➢ Response Response
• Inconsistent controlled types or locations

III IMPROPER ACTIVITIES

➢ Don’t know
➢ Deliberately (tools) risk
• Low perceived probability of accidents
• Low perceived cost of accident

The above Process (I Overload, II Incompatibility, and III Improper Activities) explains the
human error underlining initiation of accidents. Ferrell considers that accidents are the results of

Page 11
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
the casual chain of initiative incidents and that human error underlies all initiating incidents. The
3 situations for human error proposed by Ferrell are:
1. Overload: - The mismatch between the load and the capacity of the person at the time of
action.
2. Incorrect response by the person to a situation and improper activity.

3. THE ACCIDENT / INCIDENT THEORY OF ACCIDENT CAUTION OR

PETERSON’S CAUTION

It is an extension of human factor theory. It was developed by “Dan Petersen” and is sometimes
refers to as Accident/Incident theory. He introduced new elements like ergonomic traps, the
decision to error and system failures, while retaining much of human’s factor theory.
In this model, overload ergonomics traps and decision to “err’’ leads to human error. The decision
to err may be conscious and based on logic and it may be unconscious. A variety of pressures such
as deadlines, peer pressure and budget factors can make a person decide to behave in an unsafe
manner. Another factor that can influence such a decision is the “It won’t happens to be syndrome”.

Peterson’s Accident/Incident Theory

Overload Ergonomic traps Decision to error

1) Pressure 1) Incompatible 1) Misjudgment of

2) Fatigue workstation (i.e. risk
3) Motivation size, force, reach feel) 2) Unconscious
4) Drugs Decision to error
5) Alcohol 2) Incompatible 3) Logical decision
6) Worry Expectations 4) Based on the situation

Human error

System Failure Accident

* Policy
* Responsibility Injury / damage
* Training
* Inspection
* Correction
* Standards

Page 12
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
The system failure component is an important contribution of Peterson’s theory,
1) It showed potential for a casual relationship between management decision or behavior
or safety.
2) It established management’s role in accidents prevention as well as the broader
concepts of safety and health at workplace.
Following are some of the different ways that systems can fail; management does not establish the
comprehensive safety policy. Responsibility and authority with regard to safety are not clearly
defined, safety procedure such as measurement inspection, correction and investigation are ignored
or given insufficient attention. Employees are not given sufficient safety training.

4. THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL THEORY OF ACCIDENT CAUSATION

Epidemiology is the study of casual relationship between environmental factors and diseases. The
epidemiological theory holds that the models used for study and determining these relationships
can also be used to study relationship between environmental factors and accidents or diseases.

Epidemiological theory

Pre disposition characteristics Situational characteristics

*Susceptibility of people *Risk assessment by individuals

*Perceptions *Peer pressure

*Environmental factors *Properties of the supervisors

*Attitude

Can cause or prevent

Accident conditions

Figure illustrates epidemiological theory of accident causation where the key components are pre-
disposition characteristics and situation characteristics, these characteristics taken together can
either results in or prevents conditions that might result in an accident. Eg: If an employee who is
particularly susceptible to peer pressure is pressured by his co-workers to speed up his operation,
the result will be an increased probability of an accident.

Page 13
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles

ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION
One of the biggest challenges facing the investigators is to determine what is relevant to what
happened, how it happened, and especially why it happened. This involves conducting a systems
approach incident investigation that focuses on the root causes of the incident to really help prevent
them from happening again.
The four-step approach supported by the incident investigation form and tools. This approach will
assist employers through the incident investigation and help to ensure the implementation of
corrective measures based on the findings.
The steps are:
1. Preserve/Document the Scene.
2. Collect Information.
3. Determine the Root Causes or Methods of acquiring accident facts.
4. Completing report and Implement Corrective Actions.

1. Preserve/Document the Scene

Preserve the scene to prevent material evidence from being removed or altered; investigators can
use cones, tape, and/or guards.
Document the incident facts such as the date of investigation and who is investigating. Essential
to documenting the scene in capturing the injured employee’s name, injury description, whether
they are temporary or permanent, and the date and location of the incident. Investigators can also
document the scene by video recording, photographing and sketching.

2. Collect Information
Incident information is collected through interviews, document reviews and other means. Use
checklist to ensure all information pertinent to the incident is collected. The type of information
that should be collected during the investigation process includes:
• Worker characteristics (age, gender, department, job title, experience level, tenure
in company and job, training records, and whether they are full-time, part-time,
seasonal, temporary or contract).
• Injury characteristics (describe the injury or illness, part(s) of body affected and
degree of severity).
• Narrative description and sequencing of events (location of incident; complete
sequence of events leading up to the injury or near miss; objects or substances
involved in event; conditions such as temperature, light, noise, weather; how injury
occurred; whether preventive measure had been in place; what happened after
injury or near miss occurred).
• Characteristics of equipment associated with incident (type, brand, size,
distinguishing features, condition, specific part involved).

Page 14
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
• Characteristics of the task being performed when incident occurred (general task,
specific activity, posture and location of injured worker, working alone or with
others).
• Time factors (time of day, hour in injured worker’s shift, type of shift, phase of
worker’s day such as performing work, break time, mealtime, overtime, or
entering/leaving facility).
• Supervision information (at time of incident whether injured worker was being
supervised directly, indirectly, or not at all and whether supervision was feasible).
• Causal factors (specific events and conditions contributing to the incident).
• Corrective actions (immediate measures taken, interim or long-term actions
necessary).

3. Determination of Root Cause / Methods of acquiring accident facts

The purpose of all this fact-finding is to determine all the contributing factors to why the incident
occurred. Statements such as “worker was careless” or “employee did not follow safety
procedures” don’t get at the root cause of the incident. To avoid these incomplete and misleading
conclusions in your investigative process, continue to ask “Why?” as in “Why did the employee
not follow safety procedures?” Contributing factors may involve equipment, environment, people
and management. Questions that help reveal these may include:
• Was a hazardous condition a contributing factor? (Defects in equipment/tools/materials,
condition recognized equipment inspections, correct equipment used or available,
substitute equipment used, design or quality of equipment).
• Was the location of equipment/materials/worker(s) a contributing factor? (Employee
supposed to be there, sufficient workspace, environmental conditions).
• Was the job procedure a contributing factor? (Written or known procedures, ability to
perform the job, difficult tasks within the job, anything encouraging deviation from job
procedures such as incentives or speed of completion).
• Was lack of personal protective equipment or emergency equipment a contributing factor?
(PPE specified for job/task, adequacy of PPE, whether PPE used at all or correctly,
emergency equipment specified, available, properly used, function as intended).
• Was a management system defect a contributing factor? (Failure of supervisor to detect or
report hazardous condition or deviation from job procedure, supervisor accountability
understood, supervisor or worker adequately trained, failure to initiate corrective action).

4. Completing report and Implement Corrective Actions.

At this point, once you have gathered information and interviewed the involved worker and
any witnesses, you can prepare the investigation report itself and formulate corrective actions.
Your company should have determined who the report is sent to, within what time

Page 15
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
frame and what information gets communicated to workers, management, or gets filed or
posted. Each corrective action listed should have a person assigned ultimate responsibility for
the action, a completion date set and a place to mark completion of the item.
Specific corrective actions address root causes directly; however, some corrective actions can
be general, across-the-board improvements to the workplace safety environment. Some of the
corrective actions to consider are:
• Strengthening/developing a written comprehensive safety and health management
program.
• Revising safety policies to clearly establish responsibility and accountability.
• Revising purchasing and/or contracting policies to include line employees along with
management representatives.

SUPERVISORY ROLE IN ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

The supervisor in the area where it happened investigates the accident/incident and completes the
investigation report within 24 hours of the accident/incident or hazardous situation. Fax the
completed Accident/Incident Investigation Report. In the case of personal injury the supervisor
ensures that the injured employee(s) receive immediate and appropriate first aid and/or health care.
Report those injuries that result in critical injury to Occupational Health & Safety (OHS)
immediately. During non-business hours the supervisor should call Campus Community Police
Services. In conducting the accident/incident investigation and completing the Accident/Incident
Investigation Report, the supervisor must ensure the following has been completed:

• Assessment of the Scene i) Inspection of the site, equipment, material that were involved
in the accident/incident ii) Site must be secured especially in the case of a critical injury
iii) Use of photographs, sketches, drawings of the accident/incident scene indicating sizes,
distances, and weights of objects as appropriate.
• Interviewing i) Interview employee(s) involved ii) Interview any eye witnesses iii)
Interview outside experts if applicable i.e. suppliers, equipment designers iv) Interviews
must be documented v) Interviews should be conducted as soon as possible vi) Interviews
should be conducted one-on-one in a quiet place.
• Identifying the contributing factors i) Factors to consider are people, equipment, material,
environment, process.
• Write the report i) Record all findings of the accident/incident investigation on the
standard investigation reporting form ensuring that all requirements of the written
investigation procedure are captured ii) Copies of the completed Accident/Incident
Investigation form are distributed as per the distribution list on the form.
• Make recommendations for corrective action i) Responsibilities must be assigned
(investigators, management, technical personnel) for completion of the Action Plan ii)
Record on Accident/Incident Investigation Report form under Action Plan iii)

Page 16
 Module 1
Occupational Hazard and Control Principles
Recommendations should focus on the corrective action(s) to all the contributing factors
identified iv) Recommendations should specify What, Why and How the corrective actions
will be completed.
• Ensure recommendations are acted upon i) Assign responsibility for the follow-up of the
corrective action(s) ii) Record on Action Plan section of the Accident/Incident
Investigation Report form iii) Detail what has been done, who has completed the actions
and when the actions were completed.
• Ensure the recommendations are communicated to employees. Please note that when a
department fails to report the accident/incident within the required time, any fines levied
will be charged to that department.

QUESTION BANK

1. Outline the history and development of OSHA.

2. Write a brief note on national safety policy.
3. Write a brief note on right-to-know laws as a result of SARA-III.
4. List out the laws governing OSHA. Discuss any 2 in brief.
5. Outline and explain the causation/causes of accidents in industry.
6. Explain the Domino theory of accident causation.
7. What are the three factors that lead to human error in human factor theory explain?
8. With an aid of a flow diagram illustrate epidemiological theory of accident causation.
9. Briefly discuss with a neat diagram the Peterson’s accident/incident theory.
10. Outline the process of accident investigation at a work place.
11. Explain the supervisory role in accident investigation.

Page 17