Learning from experience: Prevent employee injuries with a thorough incident investigation process

When an employee is injured in the workplace it can negatively affect many aspects of your business. There are the direct costs of workers’ compensation, damage to equipment and product, and lost productivity. There are also much larger indirect costs including time required to hire and train a new employee, reduced employee morale, and potential negative public relations.

An effective way to prevent workplace injuries and a key part of any company’s Illness & Injury Prevention Program is an effective incident investigation following any injury or near miss (an injury that was narrowly avoided). An incident investigation is a process of fact-finding to identify uncontrolled hazards and the critical factors leading up to a workplace injury. An effective investigation also engages employees to assess suitable workplace controls to improve work processes and mitigate costly injuries. As states on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) webpage on incident investigation, “Incident investigations that focus on identifying and correcting root causes, not on finding fault or blame, also improve workplace morale and increase productivity, by demonstrating an employer's commitment to a safe and healthful workplace.”

ADP TotalSource recognizes the value of incident investigation and has written this bulletin to help you improve the way you respond to and learn from workplace incidents. Contact your Risk & Safety Consultant to learn more about how incident investigation and our other Safety Activation resources can help you prevent injuries and stay competitive.