Performing accident investigations when an employee gets injured is an important step in carrying out your company’s work comp management program. The first reason that comes to many people’s minds for conducting an accident investigation is probably to prevent a fraudulent claim from being filed, but there are many other good reasons for conducting these investigations.
Accident investigations help to identify the root cause of the injury. Was an inadequate workstation to blame? Or, maybe a malfunctioning tool or machine? If it is found that one of these scenarios was the cause of the accident, they can be promptly corrected before another employee suffers a similar fate. Maybe the employee had a pre-existing problem with their injured body part. Or, maybe they were doing something that they weren’t supposed to be doing so there is no equipment that needs to be fixed.
Either way, knowing for sure what caused the injury is an important piece of information. Just remember that the accident investigation is meant to be used to gather facts about the accident; not to point fingers and attempt to find who is at fault. Pointing fingers only serves to promote insecurities that the injured employee is probably already feeling anyway.
If the accident investigation is carried out as soon as possible after the injury occurred and with the point of view that “one of our own” got hurt, it will display your genuine concern for the injured employee. Treating injured employees in this manner will build a sense of trust which will translate into your employees taking a little more pride in their work because they know that if they suffer an injury, they will be taken care of swiftly and with their health and safety as the number one priority.