Episode 209 - Occupational Safety - Determining Incident Investigations

Dr. Ayers continues his series on incident investigations by focusing on how to determine causal factors — the deeper reasons an incident occurred. He emphasizes that effective investigations require peeling back layers, asking better questions, and refusing to stop at surface‑level explanations.

  🧠 Key Themes 1. Peel Back the Onion

The episode stresses that incidents rarely have a single cause. Investigators must dig through:

• Behaviors

• Conditions

• System weaknesses

• Organizational contributors

Stopping at “worker error” guarantees repeat incidents. Sources:

  2. Causal Factors vs. Root Causes

Dr. Ayers highlights the difference between:

• Causal factors — the conditions or actions that contributed

• Root causes — the underlying system failures that allowed those factors to exist

You can’t fix what you don’t understand. Sources:

  3. Ask “Why?” Until It Hurts

The episode reinforces the importance of:

• Probing questions

• Challenging assumptions

• Looking beyond the obvious

• Avoiding blame‑based conclusions

Good investigations are uncomfortable — and that’s the point. Sources:

  4. The Goal Is Prevention, Not Paperwork

Dr. Ayers reminds listeners that the purpose of determining causal factors is to ensure the incident never happens again, not to complete a form or satisfy a requirement. Sources:

  🚀 Leadership Takeaways

• Dig deeper — incidents are rarely simple.

• Differentiate causal factors from root causes.

• Ask better questions to uncover system failures.

• The real goal is prevention, not documentation.