Accident Investigation Principles Flashcards
6 cards from real COSS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Accident Investigation Principles flashcards as text
What is the primary purpose of an accident investigation in an occupational safety and health context?
Answer: To identify and correct root causes to prevent future incidents.
The fundamental goal of an accident investigation is to be preventative. By identifying the underlying or root causes, an organization can implement corrective actions to stop similar incidents from happening again. This approach focuses on systemic issues rather than simply blaming individuals.
An employee slips on a puddle of oil and is injured. A 'root cause analysis' would focus on which of the following?
Answer: Why there was oil on the floor in the first place, such as a leaking machine or inadequate maintenance procedures.
Root cause analysis aims to look beyond the immediate cause (the oil spill) to find the underlying systemic reasons for the incident. In this scenario, simply cleaning the spill or blaming the employee doesn't prevent recurrence. Investigating why the oil was there (e.g., equipment failure, lack of preventive maintenance) addresses the fundamental problem.
Immediately following a workplace accident, after ensuring the injured are cared for, what is the most critical first step for an investigator arriving at the scene?
Answer: Securing the scene to prevent disturbance of evidence.
After providing medical care, the highest priority is to secure the accident scene. This preserves physical evidence, prevents tampering, and ensures that the investigation can be based on an unaltered environment. Interviewing witnesses and other steps follow after the scene is properly controlled.
Which of the following is NOT a primary goal of an effective accident investigation?
Answer: Establishing fault to justify disciplinary action.
Effective accident investigations should be a fact-finding, not fault-finding, process. The goal is to understand what happened and why, in order to improve safety systems. Focusing on blame can discourage reporting and hinder the discovery of true root causes.
During an investigation into a fall from a scaffold, the safety specialist determines that the guardrail was not in place. The investigation report recommends reinstalling the guardrail. According to the hierarchy of controls, this recommendation is an example of what type of control?
Answer: Engineering Control
Engineering controls are physical changes to the work environment that isolate people from hazards. A guardrail is a physical barrier engineered to prevent a fall, making it an engineering control. Administrative controls would be changes to work procedures, and PPE would be requiring a fall arrest system.
A safety manager is developing an accident investigation program. The program should emphasize that, in addition to injuries, which other type of event should always be investigated?
Answer: Near misses, where an incident occurred but no injury or damage resulted.
OSHA and safety best practices strongly encourage the investigation of near misses (or close calls). A near miss indicates a flaw in the system that could result in a serious injury under slightly different circumstances. Investigating them allows for corrective action before a harmful event occurs.