Accident Investigation Pre-planning

Accidents normally come unexpected even though, looking backwards, they could have been expected since inadequate controls were established to prevent the unwanted event from occurring.

Anyway, it is important to make a plan for investigating accidents that may - and often will - occur so you will be prepared when it happens. Proper accident investigation pre-planning in vital to learning from what went wrong.

Planning for accident investigations avoids chaos, wasted time, loss of evidence and consequent
shortcomings in investigation. In the planning process, upper management should give a clear understanding of the objectives to be attained by investigation. These objectives must be reasonable and achievable. The necessary people and material resourees should be programmed. A detailed series of actions should provide the procedures for successful achievement of the objectives. Sequences and timetables should be set for interface of resources and requirements, and performance of investigation measured against standards set in the planning.

The Accident Investigation Protocol

The accident investigation protocol is already part of planning for the accident investigation as it establishes:

• training requirements to properly investigate and analyze accidents
• responsibilities for investigation and cause analysis
• collecting evidence
• criteria for use of a team approach for investigation and analysis
• risk classification for selection of project team, investigation method etc.
• assigning remedial actions and their follow-up

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