Why is Incident Investigation important in the Workplace?

Accidents can occur at any time, place, anywhere, and anything or anyone, resulting in damage, body part deformities or even death. Accident and incident investigation is an important workplace activity and an essential part of an occupational health and safety management system.

Before we explain the specifics of incident investigation, let's look at what the term 'incidence' means "An unexpected occurrence or experience that is considered unpleasant or unfortunate, a sudden happening or event that results in harm, injury, etc... a breakdown; a disturbance." An accident is an unexpected event due to the failure of people, equipment, supplies or surroundings. An Incident investigation can assist in determining how and why the failure occurred. What is learned from an Incident investigation can help control future or even worse scenarios. Training employees on how to help with accident investigations will help the overall safety of a construction operation.