Episode 205 - Occupational Safety - Incident Investigation Team

Dr. Ayers explains how to build an effective incident investigation team, emphasizing that the right people — not the most people — determine whether an investigation uncovers meaningful causes or just produces paperwork.

  🧠 Key Themes 1. Choose Team Members Who Want to Help

The episode stresses that investigators must be:

• Curious

• Objective

• Willing to learn

• Motivated to prevent recurrence

A reluctant or biased team member can derail the process. Sources:

  2. Select People With Relevant Knowledge and Experience

Dr. Ayers highlights the importance of including individuals who understand:

• The task involved

• The equipment

• The environment

• The workflow

This ensures the team can accurately reconstruct what happened. Sources:

  3. Keep the Team Small and Purposeful

More people doesn’t mean better investigations. A focused team:

• Works faster

• Stays aligned

• Avoids groupthink

• Maintains confidentiality

Quality > quantity. Sources:

  4. Include Cross‑Functional Perspectives

A strong team may include:

• Supervisors

• Operators

• Safety professionals

• Maintenance

• Engineering

Each brings a different lens to understanding causal factors. Sources:

  5. The Goal Is Prevention, Not Blame

The team must be aligned around:

• Learning

• Understanding system contributors

• Identifying meaningful corrective actions

Blame shuts down honesty and limits insight. Sources:

  🚀 Leadership Takeaways

• Pick people who care and who understand the work.

• Small, skilled teams outperform large, unfocused ones.

• Cross‑functional perspectives strengthen investigations.

• The team’s purpose is prevention, not fault‑finding.