Just like bad grades at school, accidents at work can be disheartening. In essence, they reveal that something we are doing is not working. But, just like that failed assignment, safety incidents are also opportunities for learning and improvement.
When we handle accidents in a positive and structured manner, we can uncover risks and ensure that similar events do not occur again. In fact, by learning from our mistakes, we can develop enhanced procedures for incident management that lead to continuous performance improvement and form the basis of an effective safety culture – one that motivates the entire workforce to take a proactive part in safety management and paves the way for sustainable business growth.
So, to help cement your safety culture, we have put together 6 handy tips intended to help fine-tune your incident management system because, as all good students know, there’s always one more thing to learn if you want to keep improving.
1. establish a clear reporting process
Ensure that everyone in your organization knows how to report a safety incident and establish which communication channels they should use. With defined tasks at every level and a clear incident reporting process, you can ensure that people are not paralyzed when an incident occurs.
Encourage people to take photos of the incident if possible as this provides useful information when investigating an incident. Essentially, the more data you can record, the better, as this captures vital details while they are still fresh.
2. clarify next steps
Once the incident has been reported, set out clearly what should happen to the report. If it lays buried on someone’s desk, it is of little use, so establishing a clear process is key.
Ensure that managers know how to handle safety incidents and when to escalate them. In the case of a serious incident, you want to make sure your response team is involved as quickly as possible. Once a report is received, everyone should understand how to move forward.
3. communicate, communicate, communicate!
Effective communication is essential. This should include everyone involved, but also the HSE team and management.
Remember, safety incidents should not be considered confidential, so once you have a clear idea of what happened, share your findings. Incidents are rarely isolated situations and the same factors that led to one incident might also be present in other parts of the organization. Changes to training, safety culture, operational or management processes may be required, and it is important to make the report available to everyone it might concern.
4. take action
The safety incident report and any findings from the subsequent investigation should be added to your safety management software system. When you have found the root causes of the incident, take immediate action to resolve these issues. Assign clear tasks to the right people and don’t forget to follow them up.
5. share your learning
The most effective incident management strategy involves learning from mistakes – both your own and other people’s. In fact, sharing safety information could help someone else to avoid a serious incident so take a moment to consider: Does your organization have a system for sharing information internally? What about with partners, your industry, or other sectors?
Take time to make your own organization, and others in your industry, aware of the conditions which led to the incident and how you are managing the risk going forward.
6. provide feedback
Finally, even in organizations that have a well-functioning incident management process, one important step is often forgotten: feedback. Quite often, the person who originally reported the incident never gets updated, and although you might take steps such as refining best practices, revising training programs or investing in equipment, the person that reported the incident, might never know about these efforts.
Think about it from their point of view… If you kept logging safety incidents to which no one seemed to respond, you might be less motivated to report other incidents in future. Always thank the person who initially reported the incident, and – where possible – communicate the actions you have taken as a result of their report. This makes sure they understand their contribution is valued and appreciated.
a holistic approach to incident management
As these tips highlight, an effective incident management process is key, not just for the safety of your employees, but also for the operational efficiency of your organization. With processes and tools in place to realize consistent incident reporting, we can make positive changes that underpin sustainable improvement.
But it’s not just about managing accidents and things that go wrong. For the best results, we also need to focus on the things that are going right. New approaches to safety, such as Safety-II and Safety Differently, vigorously point to this. They identify, for example, that if 9,999 safe events occur for every accident, we can also maximize safety by understanding and encouraging those behaviors that promote safety and wellbeing in the workplace. Find out more about this approach to safety in our whitepaper entitled ‘Fresh perspectives on safety management.’
In this way, taking a more holistic approach to incident management pays dividends in both the short- and long-term. Helping you sustain motivation and create a well-informed EHS culture that boosts both morale and productivity.
We invite you to learn more about AMCS EHS Management – contact us now. You can also see for yourself how it streamlines your EHS tasks. Request a free demo now.