I've had a summer with a major investigation underway and as well, running training sessions. Delivering investigation training during the summer holiday season may be a good sign that companies are gearing up for a busy fall and winter season.

Here's something that offers a little humour and has an investigation message including overlooking obvious evidence, jumping to conclusions, interviewing technique, and discipline. How many more do you see? For what it's worth, the dog days of summer:

Investigations by their very nature tend to focus on what went wrong and we seldom give much thought to what positive safety practices were in place. As excessive, uncontrolled energy is involved in every workplace accident an effective investigation technique is that of Energy & Barrier Trace. It walks you through a series of questions about an incident and focuses on the type of energy involved and what barriers (work practices, training, supervision, PPE etc.) were in place to keep the energy under control.

The process requires us to answer the following questions:

1. What type of energy was involved? (gravity, electrical, chemical etc.)
2. What barriers (safeguards) were already in place?
3. Which of those barriers failed?
4. How could the failed barriers be improved?
5. What additional barriers might be added?

Questions 2 & 3 ask what controls or barriers were in place to keep the worker safe and which of these failed. We tend to hone in on system failures, but there were likely barriers that did not fail and we seldom look at these closely, as for the most part they are doing their job.

The failed barrier usually is quite evident, and we are quick to fix it by making it stronger and that's what Question 4 is asking. So while you are fixing the obvious failures, there may be an opportunity to substantially improve the level of safety by strengthening other existing barriers. Completing a written list of all existing barriers as part of your investigation will encourage you to think not just about any failed barriers, but also those that did not fail.

Question 5 requires us to look at new ideas or practices that could be put in place. I find workers are very good at brainstorming new fixes, as they intuitively seem to understand the concept of energy. Next time you have an incident, get front line workers involved and walk them through the questions.

Follow this link to a little more info on Energy and Barrier Trace (pdf)

Investigation Kit

Kit Details (pdf article)

Pricing and Ordering Information

E-Learning Programs

My E-Learning programs are available without cost to newsletter subscribers. Each takes about an hour to complete.

Incident Investigation
The Incident Investigation program provides an overview or introduction to the process.

Collision Scene Management
The Collision Scene Management session would benefit drivers who may have to gather collision scene evidence.

Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act

Convictions - Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act

Charges - Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act