Accident investigation

One of the most difficult situations that an employer can face is a serious accident resulting from their work activities. The more serious the incident, the more daunting the situation – for example, would you know what to do if a member of your staff was found dead?

The seriousness of an accident or incident may not be in proportion with the seriousness of the underlying causes – a slip on oil leaking from a poorly maintained machine might cause little more than embarrassment, but may be symptomatic of an underlying culture of poor maintenance and lax attitudes to safety. And what if the person who had slipped hadn’t recovered his footing and had instead fallen into the machine?

Accidents present opportunities to learn and to prevent future similar (or worse) occurrences. For example, our work with Bolton Wanderers started following an accident and has culminated in the club being presented with and International Safety Award by the British Safety Council.

If you would like to use an accident investigation as a key to understanding areas where your organisation may need to improve, then we can help. Please contact us for an informal discussion of the practical benefits that a positive approach to accident investigation can bring.

Please see our expert witness pages for details of our services if your accident investigation is in the context of a prosecution or a civil compensation claim.

If you would like us to explain how our skills are relevant to your objectives then please use either the contact page or call Ian Glendenning on (01777) 816 506

Case study:
IOSH Accident Investigation Working Party

How you would react if there was a serious or even fatal accident to one of your employees?

• Would you know what to do?
• Would you understand the roles of the police, HSE and others and their expectations of you?
• Could you deal appropriately with business production decisions or with the injured person’s family and colleagues?

What if the situation wasn’t an accident but a serious ill health incident – perhaps a legionella outbreak, or a report that scores of people were suffering from asthma?

Ian Glendenning’s reputation for his practical approach and his experience in the investigation of serious workplace accidents and incidents lead to him being invited to be part of the IOSH accident investigation working party. He was able to draw on his experience with the HSE, as an ‘expert witness’ and in a private consultancy capacity to work as one of the principal authors of the guidance produced by the working party. Other members included representatives of:

• HSE
• Strathclyde Police
• Hampshire Constabulary
• IOSH

The Working Party set out to produce straightforward advice to those faced with the aftermath of serious incidents and after wide consultation IOSH published the resulting guide “Learning the lessons – How to respond to deaths at work and other serious incidents”

Case Study:
Fatal Accident Investigation - Donside Paper

A paper worker was fatally injured following a fall into paper making machinery. The accident was, of course, a tragedy to the deceased family and his colleagues. His employer was understandably keen to understand the circumstance and learn the lessons from the accident. Ian Glendenning was instructed to:

• Investigate the accident
• Review health & safety procedures generally
• Devise an action plan for improvement

Experience of this and other fatal accident investigations lead to Ian Glendenning being invited to be part of the IOSH accident investigation working party which resulted in the publication of “Learning the lessons – How to respond to deaths at work and other serious incidents”