Chapter 16 Flashcards
The incident safety officer begins the fact gathering process when an accident occurs during an incident, training, or other activity to which the ISO was assigned.
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Investigations must be documented, so that the health and safety officer can analyze the information to determine the root cause of the accident.
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The ISO provides the HSO with a written accident report on any safety and health issues identified during an incident.
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The ISO, the HSO, and the organization’s safety and health committee will have the ultimate authority for accident analysis.
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Chain of custody should be documented every time each piece of evidence changes hands during an investigation.
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To maintain the credibility of the investigation, the ISO should ensure all real and perceived conflicts are removed as soon as they are noticed.
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When surveying a scene for evidence during an investigation, the ISO should take precautions to preserve all identified evidence to prevent contamination or spoilation.
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Through investigation, gathering of data, and developing and testing a hypothesis, relevant items of evidence will be identified.
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The ISO should understand the process of preserving evidence, but may not have preservation authority at the scene.
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When an item of evidence is tagged and assigned an identification number, this number should be recorded in the investigation notes and on the scene diagram.
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NFPA 921, standard for fire and explosion investigations.
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Written witness statements should be included in the early stages of the investigation.
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A simple sketch is the minimum drawing that needs to be developed as part of every investigation.
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The sketch provides a graphical representation of the scene that is proportional but not necessarily.
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During an investigation, the ISO often starts the chain of custody of any documents and evidence collected.
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The chain of custody tracks an item of evidence from the time it is found until its final disposition.
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All incident related evidence, including documents of evidentiary value and any other items that support the findings of the investigation, is subject to chain of custody rules.
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The ISO has the responsibility of gathering the investigative information that will aid the HSO in determining the root cause of the accident.
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It is the ISO’s responsibility to identify the immediate cause of an accident. The HSO should follow up with an investigation identifying the root cause.
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Based on the data gathered during an investigation, the ISO should have an understanding of the potential scenarios that are being evaluated.
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Reports on accidents, incidents, events, and activities should be completed in narrative form following departmental SOPs.
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The PIA is a review of incidents to assess actions and decisions taken to stabilize an incident.
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The PIA provides an opportunity for participants to objectively review the operation in a constructive manner.
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According to NFPA 1500 and NFPA 1521, ISO’s are responsible for collecting safety related information for a PIA.
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The HSO also evaluates the use of personal protective equipment, the personnel accountability system, rehabilitation operations, hazardous conditions, and any other issues that pertain to personnel safety at the incident.
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Field notes provide a written record of an ISOs observations and findings during an incident.
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In most cases, the ISO writes the field notes while at the scene or when the investigation continues beyond the scene.
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A PIA is a formal document that will be analyzed to establish departmental needs, changes to SOPs, and other recommendations.
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A verbal PIA is common at less complex incidents and takes the form of an immediate debriefing.
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The informal debriefing is normally held at the company level, although multiple units may be involved.
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A written PIA is a detailed review and analysis of large scale or tactically challenging incidents.
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Recommendations made in a PIA should address critical needs to improve the safety and health of personnel during incident operations.
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Some operational flexibility is needed to accomplish incident stabilization in a dynamic all hazards environment.
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A chief officer who was not involved in the incident usually facilitates a post incident critique from the written PIA.
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Two primary areas of analysis are the application and effectiveness of the operational strategy and tactics and personnel safety.
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The point of the PIA is to document and analyze the actions at the scene to identify unsafe acts or conditions.
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The final step in a PIA or an accident investigation is to make corrective action recommendations and the appropriate implementation procedures based on the facts of the situation.
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The ISOs responsibility is to be a vigilant advocate for safety in operational strategies and tactics and to exercise his authority to halt operations when there are imminent threats.
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