Identifying hazards, creating strict safety rules and procedures, and mandating the use of protective equipment can all help keep your construction workers safe. But even in these relatively safe situations, it is possible that an employee could be hurt.
What do you do in this scenario? What are the best ways to deal with on-the-job injury?
stay cool
Clear and thorough communication is one of the most important principles to follow in post-injury reporting. It’s also important to act responsibly and decisively so you can give the injured party the medical attention they need and secure the area.
You won’t be able to do any of this if you are panicking about the situation. Therefore your top and first priority should be to remain calm. After an injury, take a few deep breaths, focus on your main goals, and try to keep those around you as calm as possible.
prioritize safety immediately
Next, you need to prioritize the immediate safety of the injured person and those around them. Your goal is to prevent further on-the-job injuries.
Provide protection to the injured person. If you can get the injured party to a safe place, get them to a safe place. Make sure they are not in a position to be injured further and that they are as comfortable as possible for the present moment. Eliminate the risk of further injuries. Your next task is to eliminate the risk of further injury, especially if this injury is the result of conditions that are a constant threat, such as a piece of equipment that is malfunctioning. Get others in the area to safety, shut down equipment as needed, and use the emergency signal to let others know about potential hazards. Safe emergency medical care. While you are securing the area, have someone else provide safe medical assistance if necessary. Depending on the severity of the injury, this may mean taking the injured person to a hospital, calling an ambulance, or even providing emergency assistance on site. gather and investigate
Once you have received emergency medical help, you can begin gathering information and investigating the incident.
If possible, take pictures and videos of the injured party, as well as pictures and videos of the environment where the incident happened. Take recordings of witness statements from anyone who saw the incident, and do your best to put together a sequence of events. Try to be as detailed and detailed as possible in your initial reporting.
Provide direction and guidance to the injured parties
It’s a good idea to provide some guidance and direction to the person who was injured, or someone who can give the information directly to them. For example, if you have a workers’ compensation insurance policy, explain to them how they can take advantage of it. Help them find the best way to take time off from work, whether it’s tapping into FMLA leave or taking traditional PTO.
file a formal report
Once you have all the details, you are ready to file a formal report about the incident. Make sure you describe the incident in as much detail as possible, noting what happened, where it happened, when it happened, who was involved, and perhaps most importantly, why it happened.
Identify the root cause, any security lapses that may have caused this, and specific changes you can make in the future to prevent it from happening again.
Notify OSA
In some cases, you may be required to notify OSHA immediately about the incident. If a death has occurred, OSHA must be notified within 8 hours; Incidences of patient hospitalization, amputation, and loss of eye should be reported within 24 hours.
If you fail to report a significant injury or death when you are required to do so, your organization may face heavy fines or other legal consequences.
reflect and improve
Finally, take time to reflect on and improve your job-site. Whenever an injury happens, you can learn something and change something later. It is especially important to identify and remove hazards, including hazards that may have contributed to the recent injury.
Tell me about the accident. Communicate with your entire crew about the accident. Make sure everyone understands exactly what happened and how it happened, as well as how they can prevent this type of accident in the future. Someone getting injured is a sobering reminder that everyone is vulnerable to injury in the workplace. Change policies (if necessary). If the injury was the result of failed policies or unknown safety hazards, consider creating new policies or modifying your existing policies. For example, you could mandate a new piece of PPE to be worn in a certain area. Provide training and education. This is an excellent opportunity to provide more training and education to your workplace’s employees. What steps can they take to make the workplace environment safer for themselves and everyone around them? Consider making adjustments to your response plan. This is also an opportunity for you to review your response plan and see if it needs to be adjusted. When the person was injured, were they able to get help right away? Were you able to conduct a thorough investigation and uncover the root causes of the accident? If not, consider adjusting your approach to respond to the injury.
No one likes to see an injury in the workplace, especially if you are responsible for maintaining workplace safety. But if you have a proper response plan, and can stay calm while communicating clearly throughout the process, you’ll be in a better position to recover quickly and completely from injury.