Accident Investigations

Why investigate?

There are hazards in all workplaces; risk control measures are put in place to reduce the risks to an acceptable level to prevent accidents and cases of ill health.

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 The fact that an adverse event has occurred suggests that the existing risk control measures were inadequate.

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Learning lessons from near misses can prevent costly accidents. (The Clapham Junction rail crash and the Herald of Free Enterprise ferry capsize were both examples of situations where management had failed to recognise, and act on, previous failings in the system). Businesses need to investigate adverse events for a number of reasons.

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In 2023-4, 138 workers were killed at work, this alone should be the moral reason to investigate to prevent harm.

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Legal reasons to investigate

• To ensure you are operating your organisation within the law.

• The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 5, requires employers to plan, organise, control, monitor and review their health and safety arrangements. Health and safety investigations form an essential part of this process. 

• Following the Woolf Report on civil action, you are expected to make full disclosure of the circumstances of an accident to the injured parties considering legal action. The fear of litigation may make you think it is better not to investigate, but you can’t make things better if you don’t know what went wrong! The fact that you thoroughly investigated an accident and took remedial action to prevent further accidents would demonstrate to a court that your company has a positive attitude to health and safety. Your investigation findings will also provide essential information for your insurers in the event of a claim.

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How can LESH help?

LESH are competent investigators, not only are we chartered consultants, we use investigators trained by the Institute of Industrial Accident Investigators (IIAI), so you can be assured that you have the best opportunity to identify a cause and effective measures. LESH will conduct a thorough investigation using the HSE 4 steps to investigation:

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1. Gather information

2. Analyse the information

3. Identifying suitable risk controls

4. The action plan and implementation

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We will identify root causes and recommend actions to prevent reoccurrence. We can also support with the submission of RIDDOR reports and when RIDDOR applies.

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If you are accredited to ISO 45001, your investigations of all incidents (including near misses) will need to identify a cause, corrective and preventative actions. Actions must then be verified as complete and effective.