Incident Frequency Rate

Incident Frequency Rate (DIFR) – Accidents in the workplace are unacceptable. Instead of trying to continue with business as usual, accidents should be considered as a moment to reflect. It is essential to do an incident investigation to help downgrade the frequency of incidents in a workplace and prevent them from happening again.

An incident investigation is done to identify the cause of the incident. It is a way of establishing the hazards that attributed to the occurrence of that particular incident. It is essential that any incident is not looked at from the surface but the root causes or contributing factors are found. This is the departure point on the next steps to take to prevent a similar accident from happening again. Also, it is important to do an incident investigation as after the discovery of the contributing factors, methods and strategies can now be considered to prevent the re-occurrence of the same incident. These mechanisms can only be implemented if an investigation has been done and the root causes revealed

After every incident investigation, records should be kept for future references. Records should be kept in a systematic way that they are easily accessible when required because the last one needs when it comes to health and safety is to mission finding relevant documents. The records help monitor the trend of incidence in the workplace to determine if there is any further need of improving health and safety or previously implemented methods are effective.

A health and safety official should conduct an incident investigation according to procedure. An investigator should secure the accident scene to avoid cases where by evidence is tempered with or distorted. Securing the scene ensures that the correct or possible causes of incident are revealed and the correct safety measures for prevention will be put in place.

Another essential part of investigation is that the investigator questions the employees who has or might have any information or knowledge about events accumulating to the accident. This helps get additional information and views that contribute to an effective investigation. In cases where an incident seems to complicated, an investigator can acquire the services of a third party to help enhance the investigation. Inspector may ask the participation of both employer and employees for investigation who are questioned individually, privately. It is only after the matter has been concluded that strategies and measures can be put forward to reduce the frequency of incidents in the workplace.

There are many measures that can be used to bring down the frequency of incidence in the workplace. After establishing the hazards during an incident investigation, it is advisable for employers to have regular risk assessments conducted in their workplaces to control, eliminate or reduce hazards and monitor if any newly introduced measures are effective.

Employers are encouraged not only to keep records of all incidents that happened in the workplace, no matter how minor, but to also check and assess the previous records to see if incidents trends are improving or worsening. Records help employers identify incidents that are re-occurring as they may need special attention.

Employers can also put safety measures in the workplace to reduce escalation of incidents. This may include, safety signs, safety operation procedure, provision of PPE, organising training of employees, communication awareness and supervision of employees to mention but a few.

Reducing the time and extent of exposure is another effective way of bringing down the frequency of incidents in the work place. Long monotonous hours of the same duty can cause loss of focus and distraction which may lead to an incident.

Health and Safety Representatives should be pro-actively involved in the workplace in putting forward measures and solutions to ensure a safer place rather than wait for an accident to occur before the workplace is secured. It is only after the cause of the incident and contributing hazards have been pin-pointed that safety measures can be improved. This clearly indicates that accident investigation is important in bringing down the frequency of incidents in the workplace.

Taking any incident for granted is a grave mistake but not identifying the hazards contributing to an incident and only dealing with it from the surface is even more unacceptable. Find the root of the problem and make that the starting point of the way forward in incident reduction in the workplace.