OSHA Investigations
You may already know that OSHA conducts thousands of accident investigations every year. You can find summaries of these accidents on the OSHA Fatality and Catastrophe Investigation Summaries webpage.
OSHA conducts accident investigations for several key reasons:
- Identifying Causes: An important purpose is to identify the cause or causes of an accident.
- Ensuring Compliance: Accident investigations help determine whether there were any violations of OSHA standards or regulations. If violations are found, OSHA can take steps to enforce compliance.
- Improving Workplace Safety: By investigating accidents, OSHA can gain insights into potential hazards and safety deficiencies in the workplace.
- Preventing Future Accidents: Through these investigations, OSHA aims to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents.
- Educating Employers and Employees: Accident investigations provide valuable learning opportunities.
- Policy Development: Insights from investigations can inform the development of new safety regulations and standards.
Remember, to determine the actual purpose of an investigation, you must examine the final output – the report. With that in mind, let's look at the sample report given in OSHA Instruction CPL 2.113, Appendix C:
Findings of the Investigation Report
MEMORANDUM FOR: Regional AdministratorFROM: Area Director
SUBJECT: Notification of Results of Fatality
Investigation
The following information supplements the OSHA-170, regarding investigation of the accident at _____ Company, Inc.
Proposed Action: (Output) Issue citations for serious and other violations of machine guarding, open floor holes, hazard communication and recordkeeping with a penalty total of $5,475. A 5(a)(1) letter outlining the hazards to be corrected which were not clearly addressed by 29 CFR 1928 Safety and Health Standards for agriculture and for which other OSHA Standards are not applicable will also be mailed to the company.
What It Means
As you can see, the output of the investigation establishes liability (blame) and proposes to cite and fine the employer. The message in the above OSHA report is that, as required by the OSHA Act of 1970, OSHA conducts accident investigations to primarily determine if the employer violated OSHA standards. OSHA establishes employer liability, places blame, and administers "penalties" (consequences). Therefore, the actual purpose of the investigation is to establish liability and issue penalties as appropriate.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
1-7. OSHA conducts accident investigations to primarily determine _____.
You forgot to answer the question!