Accident Investigation Questions: Uncovering Root Causes

An effective accident investigation is systematic, thorough and unbiased. Too many investigators stop their work after ticking enough boxes and finding someone to blame. But this approach misses the point of accident investigation: You’re not looking for the mistake but the conditions that allowed the mistake to happen.

Root cause analysis is essential for this. You need to drill into an incident until you uncover the underlying issues. Otherwise, the best you can hope for is a brief refocus on safe behaviour. But after this passes, workers will end up making the same mistakes as before because the root causes remain unchanged.

But you can ensure accidents are one-off events by investigating them properly and asking the right accident investigation questions.

An accident investigation starts with securing the scene. It’s important to gather evidence before anything is disturbed.

Here are the key steps to follow:

1. Secure the Scene: Make sure the accident area is safe and that no further injuries can occur. Seal off the area to preserve evidence.
2. Record the Scene: Take photographs from multiple angles, create detailed sketches of the layout, and note the positions of any equipment and witnesses. For each witness, establish what they could actually see from their vantage point. It’s important to know what details they can comment on accurately.
3. Collect Initial Observations: Document the time, location and people present. Review the immediate conditions of the accident and note any obvious hazards or environmental factors.

These basic facts should be unquestionable and completely without interpretation. This information will lay the groundwork for a thorough investigation. Then, it’s time to start asking more profound accident investigation questions.

Speaking to everyone present helps you piece together a complete picture of what happened.

Before you start your questioning, isolate each interviewee. We’re easily influenced by what other people think, so separate the witnesses and ask them not to discuss the event. Otherwise, their accounts may not be reliable.

You must also listen without judgment. The witnesses will likely have already formed an opinion on what happened and who was at fault. Don’t take their interpretation as fact. Remain objective and focus on the details that can be proven.

Ask open-ended, unbiased questions. For example:

• Don’t ask, “Did you see John slip on the floor?”
• Ask, “What did you see happening around John before he fell?”

• Don’t ask, “Did you notice Samantha using her safety gear?”
• Ask, “What was Sarah doing just before the accident, and what equipment was she using?”

These types of questions help gather comprehensive information without leading the interviewee. It’s essential to listen carefully and record the responses accurately.

Gather all eyewitness accounts and cross-reference them to identify provable facts. Look for consistency and contradictions in the accounts to build a clear picture of the incident. This step is crucial to moving forward and uncovering the underlying causes.

Uncovering the root causes of an incident is essential to preventing future accidents. So, the most important accident investigation question is “why?”

Begin by asking why the accident happened. For instance, if a worker slipped, ask why the floor was slippery. If the answer is because of a spill, then ask why the spill was not cleaned up. Continue this process until you reach the fundamental cause.

For example:

1. Why did the worker slip? Because the floor was wet.
2. Why was the floor wet? Because there was a spill.
3. Why was there a spill? Because a container was leaking.
4. Why was the container leaking? Because it was not adequately maintained.
5. Why was it not properly maintained? Because there is no regular maintenance schedule.

By repeatedly asking “why,” you can trace the problem back to its root causes. Identifying these root causes is crucial for implementing effective solutions that address the core issues rather than the symptoms.

Understanding why an accident happened helps you make informed decisions about necessary changes to prevent it from happening again. This thorough approach ensures long-term improvements in workplace safety and can significantly reduce the risk of future incidents.

When asking “why” to uncover root causes, you may need to go beyond the initial witnesses. This often involves interviewing higher-level personnel or looking into broader organisational issues.

For example, if a spill was not cleaned up, and you trace the root cause to the lack of a maintenance schedule, you might need to investigate further:

1. Why was there no maintenance schedule?
2. Why was the responsible manager unaware of this issue?
3. Why was there no oversight or audit process to ensure these schedules were in place?

This process might reveal systemic problems such as inadequate training for managers, lack of oversight or poor communication within the organisation. By taking the investigation further, you can address these larger issues and implement wide-ranging solutions to improve safety. Often, these broad improvements will prevent other unforeseen accidents as well as the specific incident under investigation.

Conducting a thorough accident investigation is vital for improving workplace safety and preventing future incidents. By systematically uncovering why an accident happened, you can pinpoint the root causes and contributing factors. This approach allows you to prevent the specific incident from reoccurring and other unforeseen harm.

• Gather the basic facts. Secure the scene, document the layout with photos and sketches and list the time, location and parties present.
• Who was involved and who witnessed the accident? Isolate witnesses for individual questioning.
• What happened? Obtain clear, factual descriptions of the incident by asking open-ended questions to piece together the sequence of events.
• Why did it happen? Repeatedly ask why the incident occurred. Trace the incident back to fundamental root causes to ensure comprehensive accident investigation findings.

Effective accident investigation requires discipline and knowledge. You need to understand how to ask the right questions, listen objectively and move past a surface-level analysis.

For a more in-depth understanding of accident investigation, consider taking our online Accident Investigation Training course. It equips you with the knowledge to conduct accident investigations that have a measurable impact on workplace safety. You’ll learn how to collect and analyse evidence, interview witnesses and create comprehensive reports.