An accident/incident or a "near miss" is not something that just happens out of the blue. It is a signal that something is wrong with conditions on your worksite or with what your employees are doing. An investigation is necessary to find out what that "something" is.

An investigation should be a thorough examination that tells you not only what happened in this particular case, but also how and why it happened this way. The goal is not to find someone to blame for what happened, but to get information you could not get just by doing inspections. With thorough reporting and long-term analysis, investigations can reveal important trends and relationships, and point to valuable corrective actions.

An investigation, therefore, is not just a reaction to a specific accident/incident. It has a much broader role as part of your overall safety program. By providing information about what happens on the worksite, it can improve the quality of your training and the effectiveness of your supervision.