Deck 12: Incident Investigation

Question 1

Besides the supervisor, who else should sign the supervisor's accident/incident report?

A)the senior manager
B)the Ministry of Labour inspector
C)the employee (if/when available)
D)the chair of the Joint Health and Safety Committee

Answer 1

the employee (if/when available)

Question 2

As a result of the investigation, it was revealed that Kyle had been suffering from depression for several months. What theory explicitly mentions mental problems?

A)bow-tie analysis
B)Swiss cheese model
C)domino theory
D)theory of normal incidents

Answer 2

domino theory

Question 3

Which of the following would proponents of James Reason's Swiss cheese model be most likely to believe?

A)that all incidents have the same basic cause
B)that incidents are a normal occurrence
C)that incidents are the result of failures at multiple levels
D)that how you are raised contributes to cause of incidents

Answer 3

that incidents are the result of failures at multiple levels

Question 4

What incident investigation method can reveal unsafe conditions that may have contributed to the incident but not unsafe acts?

A)interviews
B)simulations
C)re-enactments
D)walkthroughs

Question 5

Which of the following has the greatest influence on whether an incident is investigated?

A)safety climate
B)management commitment
C)legal requirements
D)safety participation

Question 6

Why can witnesses' recall become distorted if investigation is not begun in a timely manner?

A)There are changes at the incident site.
B)There is removal of important evidence.
C)They may suffer memory loss.
D)They discuss the incident with others.

Question 7

The theory of normal incidents would be more likely to be used in investigating incidents in what type of industry?

A)agriculture
B)oil refineries
C)healthcare
D)light manufacturing

Question 8

Ling arrives at her workplace to find there has been an incident and she is being put in charge of finding out how a piece of equipment was damaged during the repair of a nearby piece of equipment. The damage to all of the involved equipment is fairly significant, and an investigation will add to the anticipated production delays. Nobody was injured and due to the financial impact Ling decides to delay an investigation until her supervisor returns from vacation. Ling should be concerned about which of the following as it relates to the quality of the incident?

A)customer satisfaction, causes, and timing
B)timing, severity, and legal requirements
C)costs, cause, and timing
D)costs, cause, and media attention

Question 9

Noria from HR is doing a walkthrough shortly after an incident in the shipping area and needs to know how the conveyor belt is operated. Whom should she ask?

A)the injured worker
B)the plant manager
C)coworkers of the injured worker
D)the injured worker's supervisor

Question 10

What different types of falls are considered under incident type classification?

A)fall to same level, fall to lower level, fall to higher level
B)fall on upper body, fall on lower body
C)fall backwards, fall forwards
D)fall vertically, fall horizontally

Question 11

What question should be asked when investigating situational factors contributing to an incident?

A)What shift was being worked?
B)Was the work being performed to standards?
C)Was a supervisor present?
D)Did some unsafe act contribute to the event?

Question 12

What piece of information is found on both the long and short supervisor report?

A)type of injury
B)type of accident
C)suggested corrective action
D)sketch/diagram of accident scene

Question 13

What is the key element in cognitive interviews that elicits more accurate information from eyewitnesses?

A)developing rapport
B)asking probing questions
C)encouraging active participation
D)focusing on the eyewitnesses' mental images

Question 14

Inspection of the incident scene to get a picture of the total environment is the definition of which investigation method?

A)walkthrough
B)re-enactment
C)observation
D)interview

Question 15

Forklift trucks belong to what agent group?

A)tools
B)lifting devices
C)motive power sources
D)materials-handling systems

Question 16

Who generally has primary responsibility for incident investigation?

A)the worker's immediate supervisor
B)a management member of the JHSC
C)an investigator from the Ministry of Labour
D)a technical expert from the industry association

Question 17

An incident investigation that is conducted appropriately should help an organization determine which of the following?

A)appropriate work accommodations
B)who is to blame
C)how to prevent a similar incident
D)potential fines from regulators

Question 18

What is the most important criterion in choosing which computer to use for incident investigation?

A)portability
B)processing speed
C)database capabilities
D)graphical and CAD software

Question 19

Cognitive interviewing was a process developed for which industry?

A)health care
B)law enforcement
C)commercial transportation
D)nuclear power generation

Question 20

Who is more likely to experience a cognitive failure?

A)an older worker
B)a young worker
C)a working parent
D)a dissatisfied worker

Question 21

Examining tools for wear and tear following an incident falls under a potential environmental factor.

Question 22

Investigators should avoid giving interviewees feedback.

Question 23

If the other members of the injured worker's work group are unharmed and not experiencing emotional distress, they can continue with their work immediately after the incident.

Question 24

It is recommended that incidents be reported to a workers' compensation board, normally within three days

Question 25

What organization would have the legal right to demand a mandatory investigation into the Toronto worker's death?

A)Ontario Ministry of Labour
B)City of Toronto Building Department
C)Workers Insurance Safety Board (Ontario)
D)the construction firm for whom he worked

Question 26

Nuclear power plants are high-reliability organizations.

Question 27

Although possibly not a cause of the Toronto incident, what factor might explain a cognitive failure to reattach a safety tether/harness to a safety hook after moving from one floor to the next floor of a building under construction?

A)uncomfortable equipment
B)a careless attitude toward safety
C)a fight at home that morning
D)hand-eye coordination problems

Question 28

Define "incident investigation" and describe the aim and benefits of incident investigations.

Question 29

Read OH&S Notebook 12.3, Analysis of an Incident, and identify the human, situational, and/or environmental factors that contributed to the incident.

Question 30

A typical cognitive interview involves probing questions.

Question 31

Abbreviations such as "n/a" for "not applicable" should not be used on investigation report forms.

Question 32

. Re-enactments are an investigative technique design to elicit the truth from witnesses.

Question 33

The "knot" in the bow-tie model represents the event or incident.

Question 34

Describe each of the three types of cognitive failure (human factor) and relate each to relevant incident types listed in the chapter. Provide examples to support your answer.

Question 35

Compare and contrast the domino theory with the theory of normal incidents.

Question 36

Most incidents are the result of a single contributing factor.

Question 37

What is the action that should have been taken by the site manager immediately after the incident?

A)taking photographs of the job site
B)securing and protecting the scene(s)
C)documenting any personal protective equipment in use
D)talking to coworkers who were in the immediate area

Question 38

According to the textbook, what should coworkers who witnessed the incident be offered prior to being interviewed?

A)legal advice
B)trauma counselling
C)the opportunity to go home to calm down first
D)the opportunity to retrieve tools left at the incident site

Question 39

Describe the guidelines for conducting a re-enactment.

Question 40

What would be an example of the fourth level of defence from the Swiss cheese model, which might have prevented this fatality?

A)safety training
B)a strong safety culture
C)a safety-conscious supervisor
D)rails along the edge of open floors

Question 41

Using the case at the end of the chapter as your source material, describe the concepts, methods, and personnel you would use to implement and perform an effective investigation of this incident. Use the domino theory or Swiss cheese model as your theoretical foundation to help you classify the causes and determine what can be done to ensure that incidents of this type do not occur in the future. In addition to writing up the foregoing, prepare a Supervisor's Accident/Incident Report (long form), filling in as much information as you can (similar forms to the example in the textbook can be downloaded from the Internet).