Reference no: EM132884488

Case :-

You are the president and largest shareholder of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that employs 300 workers. You do not have a safety specialist on staff, but you do take a personal interest in incident prevention. Recently you assigned general responsibility for safety to the day-shift superintendents as a minor part of their regular duties.

The plant has never been thoroughly analyzed for hazards, and you are aware that the operation is not as safe as it could be. Many of the operations require considerable ongoing maintenance by the workers to prevent incidents. Since for several years the business has been only breaking even, you have delayed making any improvements to the plant and equipment. You and the superintendents have concentrated your efforts on preventing unsafe acts by the employees. An elaborate system of worker reminders, such as posters and instruction by supervisors, has been used to make the workforce safety conscious.

For the past few years, your performance with respect to medical aid and lost-time injuries has been average for your WCB rate group. Your company has escaped any lost-time injuries for the past two years, including the current year to date. The continuation of that record has become an important goal. Signs in the plant indicate the number of days that have passed without a lost-time injury.

Today, at 15:30, a container of nearly red-hot, upper-control-arm forgings was overturned. The hot forgings fell on a worker who was helping the drop forge machine operator. The worker suffered third degree burns over 20 percent of his body. Though he is expected to recover, the worker will lose most of his right arm, right ear, and sight in his right eye. Describe the investigative methods and tools you would use to investigate this incident.

To help you get started, lets think about this case through the lens of the HR Thought Cycle.

Identification of the case issues

· Workplace is a manufacturing environment with 300 workers

· No safety specialist on staff

· Day-shift superintendents have general responsibility for safety practices

· No workplace hazard analysis completed

· Worker reminders are posted reminding workers to work safely

· WCB performance ratings are average

· Communication is posted regarding number of days without lost-time injury

· Today, worker suffered a critical incident resulting in serious bodily harm and injuries due to hot forgings falling on the worker

Hypothesis

· A critical incident investigation must be completed. The results and recommendations of the investigation will need to be implemented to prevent similar accidents in the future

Identification of legislative issues

· Occupational Health and Safety Act

Risk identification

· This critical incident may result in severe fines and penalties for the employer

· The injured worker will continue to suffer and will not be able to return to work

· Other workers will experience fear and refuse to complete potentially dangerous work

· The workplace may be shut down due to unsafe work practices

· The employer will be found not having done enough to ensure that workers are safe

Action

· Ensure that a qualified person completes the accident investigation immediately

· Follow the 5 W approach to investigate the incident to discover the root cause

· do a comprehensive root cause analysis

· start makinig and provide investigative report in compliance with legislative requirements

· Post recommendations and ensure that recommendations are implemented

Issue Resolution

· Investigative report provides the opportunity to implement system improvements for safe workplace practices

HR Impact

· Lost-time injuries will require staffing and scheduling

· Loss of morale and employee perceptions about working in an unsafe environment will impact employee engagement

· HR must take the lead in ensuring that the workplace is safe

Further Considerations

· Lack of knowledge resulting in potential employer liability for not taking every reasonable measure to ensure the safety of workers

Proactive response

· Provide immediate training to the employer and management team about their duties and obligations under the law

An additional resource to review in completing this case study is the WorksafeBC's"Reference Guide for Employer Incident Investigations that can be found on google. It discusses concepts and methods that can help an employer implement and perform effective investigations in their workplace.

Questions :-

o Describe the investigative methods and tools you would use to investigate the incident.

o Describe your strategy for approaching the investigation including a general timeline.

o What types of information need to be collected? This may be in point form but make sure to provide enough detail.

o Who will be involved? What reports, records or forms would help you report, investigate, and analyze the workplace injury?

o How will you analyze the data collected?