Accident Investigation, 1-Day Course

Accident Investigation Workshop

Our 1-Day Workshop session on Accident Investigation will give you a broad understanding of the accident investigation process, looking at the benefits of accident prevention and putting the emphasis on practical training exercises and real-life case studies.

Topics covered include:

• An understanding of why accidents happen
• The principles of accident investigation
• Benefits of accident prevention
• An introduction to the concepts of human factors
• Accident reporting and scope of the investigation
• Accident investigation techniques
• Stages of accident investigation
• Several case studies

Possible Case Study – An Apprentice fell from forklift truck

An Apprentice suffered serious injuries when he fell from a makeshift platform – a potato box lifted by a forklift truck. A supervisor used a forklift truck with an attached potato box to lift an apprentice electrician to a height of four metres to carry out electrical repairs at a potato storage warehouse.

This was inherently unstable and, unfortunately (but unsurprisingly) the apprentice fell to the floor. The apprentice was admitted to hospital and sustained a punctured lung and broken ribs. An investigation found the apprentice’s employer had carried out a risk assessment and purchased suitable equipment for work at height, but (in a deviation from the safe working practice) that this was not used by the employee in charge of work at the site.

Possible Case Study –  Child injured (life-changing injuries)

Lifting operations must be planned. Not a difficult concept. Think about what is being lifted and what can go wrong, and make suitable arrangements. One of the common methods to be used is the creation of an “Exclusion Zone”, so that if things fall they do not hit people (including members of the public). A self-employed builder has been given a suspended jail sentence after a three-year-old girl suffered severe head injuries when a length of timber fell on her while being hoisted up the outside of a scaffold. The Court heard how the girl and her mother (pushing her daughter in a buggy) were proceeding along the street. As they passed scaffolding, erected on the pavement for refurbishment work to a flat above, the length of timber fell from approximately ten metres in height, striking the girl on the head. The three-year-old suffered life-changing injuries. While the three-year-old has made significant progress, it is not yet known whether she will make a full recovery.

No Exclusion Zone

An investigation found that the builder in control of the works had tied the length of timber to a rope for lifting up the outside of the scaffold using a pulley system. The knot used was not suitable, and the timber slipped out, falling to the ground. There was no exclusion zone in place to prevent persons from being underneath the load, in case of such a problem.