Incident Reporting, Investigation and Emergency Preparedness and Response
Reporting thresholds and timelines
Understand the difference between an incident (any unwanted event), a near miss (no harm but potential), and an accident (harm occurred). Reporting duties typically attach to fatalities, serious injuries, dangerous occurrences and specified occupational diseases, with tight notification timelines to the regulator and internal escalation to management. Questions test whether you know that near misses must be reported and investigated because they are free lessons.
Investigation method
Investigations seek root causes, not blame. Use a structured approach: secure the scene and evidence, gather witness statements separately, build a timeline, apply a causation tool (5-Whys, fishbone, fault tree), and separate immediate causes (unsafe acts/conditions) from underlying and root causes (management system failures). Findings must produce SMART corrective actions with owners and dates, and effectiveness must be verified.
Emergency preparedness
Cover the cycle: hazard-based emergency scenarios, response plan, roles, alarms and communication, evacuation routes and assembly points, drills with recorded critique, mutual aid and business continuity. Traps include treating a drill as a paperwork exercise, or assuming the fire alarm covers chemical release and medical emergency scenarios.
Worked example
A worker slips on an oily floor. Immediate cause: oil on floor. Underlying: no spill kit nearby, cleaning schedule not followed. Root: no scheduled housekeeping inspection and no accountability for spill response. Corrective actions: spill kit at each bay, revised cleaning schedule, monthly inspection with named owner, verified at next audit.