Incident Investigation, Documentation, and Reporting
Incident investigation, documentation, and reporting
This domain tests immediate response, evidence preservation, witness interviewing, causal analysis, corrective actions, and OSHA recordkeeping and reporting. The purpose is prevention and organizational learning, not assigning blame.
Core rules
- Stabilize the scene: provide medical care, control ongoing hazards, and preserve evidence.
- Gather facts separately from opinions: photographs, equipment positions, training records, maintenance logs, JHAs, and individual witness statements.
- Use 5 Whys or a causal tree to separate immediate cause, contributing causes, and root or system causes.
- Maintain the OSHA 300 log, complete the 301 within 7 calendar days, and post the 300A from February 1 through April 30.
- Report fatalities within 8 hours and in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours under 1904.39.
- Assign corrective actions with an owner and due date, then verify effectiveness.
Worked example
A worker falls from a 10-foot ladder and is hospitalized overnight. The case is recordable because it involves medical treatment beyond first aid and days away from work. The employer reports the in-patient hospitalization within 24 hours, completes the 301 within 7 days, and updates the 300 log. The investigation examines ladder setup, access, inspection, and training. The reasoning is that the reporting clock and recordability decision are separate from the root-cause analysis; both must be completed.
Traps that cost marks
- Blaming the injured worker and stopping the investigation there.
- Recording first-aid-only treatment as recordable.
- Missing the 24-hour hospitalization reporting clock.
- Closing corrective actions without verifying they worked.