b'Garys Corner8.You should separate the witnesses to the incidentfromeachotherandfromotherThegoalofthe employees. You will need to interview anyone who has been identified as a witness. Youinvestigation is to should also take statements from individualsfind facts needed at the site, who were not witnesses. These statementscanbebriefandlimitedtoato answer the questions of simple statement confirming that they werewho, what, when, where and not witnesses to the incident. You are takingwhy, to arrive at the root witness statements NOT asking for opinions. It is important to get statements even fromcause of the accidentthose who did not see anything, to that effect, in the event litigation arises from the accident/incident that you have obtained all of the information 9.Irecommendinterviewingwitnessesinavailable, transcribe the statement and have tandem. In other words, I recommend twothe witness review it. If the witness is satisfied trainedmanagementrepresentatives(orwith the statement have them writeThe supervisors or representatives of the safetypreceding statement is true and correct. Then department)intervieweachwitness.Onehave the witness sign and date it. Following teammembershouldtakenotesandthethis both interviewers should sign and date it other ask the questions. Remember you areas witnesses.doing this to get information, not to challengeThegoaloftheinvestigationistofindfacts either what the witness says he/she did orneededtoanswerthequestionsofwho,what, saw, or to find fault with the witness. If you arewhen, where and why, to arrive at the root cause of a union employer, be sure you comply withthe accident.After all of the information available the language of your collective bargaininghas been obtained, the investigation team should agreement(CBA).IftheCBArequiresmeet.At this meeting, the team should review the youtopermitthewitnesstohaveunioninformation with the safety manager (if he/she was representation while you interview him/hernot part of the investigation team) to determine the be sure you comply with it.root cause of the accident.It is important NOT to 10.speculate or make any assumptions; make sure there You should use the same team for all witnesses.are facts to support every conclusion drawn. The DO NOT just hand each witness a piece ofteam should also discuss whether disciplinary action paper and have them fill it out. Take the timeand/or retraining is warranted for any employee and do the interview correctly. Interview theinvolved.The conclusions reached, after they have witnesses in a quiet comfortable location, ifbeen appropriately reviewed, should be used to at all possible. First, have the witnesses telldevelop a lessons learned presentation that can you what he/she saw. After the witness hasbe shared with all employees as a training tool to completed their statement, go back and askprevent a repeat of the actions which lead to the clarifying questions. DO NOT ask leadingaccident.questions. These are questions that suggest the answer (response) you are looking for byI suggest using the preceding procedure or, at the way it is worded. For example, Isnt it trueleast parts of it, to perform any accident investigation. that you were not in a good location to seeRemember, prevention of future, similar accidents what occurred? The better question, after youare your primary goal. You must also keep in mind have the initial statement isPlease look atby obtaining all of this accident information, it may this sketch of the accident scene and locatebe necessary to use it to defend the company from where you were standing and facing at thefuture litigation.time of the accident. After you are satisfied www.mrca.orgMidwest Roofer 37'