Workers’ Compensation Investigations and Analysis
Michael Lary, ARM, ALCM, SPHR
Reasonable Solutions
An accident or incident investigation procedure is determined by the purpose of the investigation. In most workers’ compensation incidents the purpose of the investigation is to determine the cause of the accident so as to prevent future occurrences. While there are many good procedures such as MORT (Management Oversight and Risk Tree), TOR, (Technic of Operations Review), CPM (Critical Path Method), PERT (Program Evaluation Review Technique), FEMA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis), and others, these often require an extensive education in their processes to be able to effectively utilize them.
Many investigators use a variety of techniques that often are not sufficiently methodological in approach to yield consistent results. Some of these, such as the Sherlock Holmes method, involve event sequencing in the investigator’s mind and rely on intuitive connecting to obtain results. Others, such as Kipling’s faithful servants, “Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How”, provide a more reasoned methodology to determine what happened and can be readily understood without special training.
While all of the above mentioned methods have their strengths one of the better methods of investigating and evaluating incidents is the root cause analysis. This approach uses a drill down questioning method that enables you to get beyond the first impressions and determine more accurately what occurred and why it occurred. Root cause investigations can run from relatively simple to extremely complex. For most workers’ compensation investigations a simple approach is usually the most desirable. Root cause analysis is often used to provide an auditable means of failure analysis even if the outcomes can vary to some degree.
A simple and popular form of root cause analysis is called the 5 Whys. A variant on this technique is the 5 Whys and 1 How.
To utilize the 5 Whys method you start with a statement of the situation. You then ask why is this happening; you look at your answer and again ask “Why”. You continue this method until you have asked “Why” five times. By refusing to accept and be satisfied with the first explanation you improve the probability of identifying the root cause.
In the variant technique you ask a sixth question “How”. The “How” question uses the data obtained in the preceding 5 Whys to identify ways of preventing similar occurrences.
Government and industry use this deceptively simple technique for determination and analysis of root cause to channel efforts into loss prevention, and to use the loss incident as a valuable learning tool for future improvements. Quality organizations often use this investigative technique to focus on service failures and to ensure adequate review of incidents.
Your Washington Hospitals Self-Insured Workers’ Compensation Program can assist you with teaching your safety committee and supervisors how to use root cause analysis. It is a valuable tool in improving workers’ safety. Please contact: Beverly Simmons, Executive Director, 206-285-3955, or .