Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
accident's.causal.factors..These.causal.factors.are.key.to.accident/incident.prevention..
This.can.be.accomplished.by
•.
Understanding. the. activity. that. was. being. performed. at. the. time. of. the.
accident
•.
Personally.conducting.a.walkthrough.of.the.accident.scene
•.
Challenging.“facts”.that.are.inconsistent.with.other.evidence.(e.g.,.physical)
•.
Corroborating.facts.through.interviews
•.
Testing.or.inspecting.pertinent.components.to.determine.failure.modes.and.
physical.evidence
•.
Reviewing.policies,.procedures,.and.work.records.to.determine.the.level.of.
compliance.or.implementation
Careful. and. complete. analysis. of. the. data. collected. following. an. accident. is.
critical.to.the.accurate.determination.of.an.accident's.causal.factors..The.results.of.
comprehensive.analyses.provide.the.basis.for.corrective.and.preventive.measures.
stAtIstIcAl AnAlysIs For comPArIsons
Companies. and. federal. oficials. frequently. utilize. the. following. statistical. pieces.
of. information. designed. to. allow. the. company. to. compare. its. safety. and. health.
performance. with. others:. the. incident. rate,. illness. rate,. lost. workday. cases. rate. or.
severity.rate,.and.restricted.workday.case.rate..These.rates,.respectively,.answer.the.
questions.of.“How.often.or.frequently.are.accidents.occurring?”.and.“How.bad.are.
the. injuries/illnesses. that. are. occurring?”. The. number. of. times. that. occupational.
injuries/illnesses.happen.is.the.determinant.for.the.incident.rate,.while.the.number.
of.days.away.from.work.(lost-time.workdays).or.restricted.workdays.are.the.prime.
indicator.of.the.severity.rate..Both.of.these.rates.provide.unique.information.regard-
ing.your.safety.and.health.effort.
To.ind.the.injury/illness.rate,.count.the.number.of.distinct.events,.which.resulted.
in. injuries/illnesses.. To. compare. your. incident. rate. to. other. companies,. you. must.
.normalize.your.data..This.is.accomplished.by.using.a.constant.of.200,000 work-hours,.
which.was.established.by.the.Bureau.of.Labor.Statistics..The.200,000.work-hours.
are.the.number.of.hours.that.100.full-time.workers.would.work.during.50.weeks.at.
40.hours.per.week..Thus,.a.company's.incident.rate.or.illness.rate.can.be.calculated.
in.the.following.manner:
Number of your OSHA recordable in
juries/illnesses
200,000 (work hour constant)
×
Total number hours that your employees worked during the year
Incident rate
=
.
The.incident.rate.could.be.a.rate.calculated.for.recordable.(combined).injuries.and.
illnesses,.recordable.injuries,.recordable.illnesses,.all.injuries.with.lost.workdays,.all.
illnesses.with.lost.workdays.or.restricted.workdays,.injuries.requiring.only.medical.
