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Effective recommendations should address both the immediate hazards associated with the incident and the underlying system weaknesses that allowed those hazards to develop or continue. Recommend both short-term corrective actions and long-term improvements to the safety management system (SMS).
Effective recommendations should address both short-term corrective actions and long-term system improvements when supported by investigation findings.
- Immediate or short-term corrective actions: Recommend actions that eliminate or control hazardous conditions and unsafe or inappropriate actions associated with the incident. Examples include repairing defective equipment, installing a missing guard, removing defective equipment from service, or correcting an unsafe work practice.
- Short-term corrective actions → control the immediate problems.
- Long-term corrective actions: These corrective actions focus on making safety management system improvements identified during root cause analysis. They may include creating or revising safety policies, programs, plans, processes, procedures, training, supervision, accountability systems, and management practices.
- Long-term corrective actions → improve the safety management system weaknesses.
Example: If an investigation finds a defective ladder, an immediate corrective action might be to remove the ladder from service. If root cause analysis finds weaknesses in the ladder inspection program, a long-term corrective action might be to revise the program to establish inspection requirements, assign responsibilities, and verify that inspections are completed.
- Removing the defective ladder corrects the immediate problem.
- Improving the ladder inspection program addresses the system weakness.
Who Develops the Recommendations?
Responsibility for developing recommendations varies among organizations. Safety professionals, managers, supervisors, engineers, employees, incident investigators, or other qualified personnel may participate. Regardless of who develops the recommendations, recommended actions should be based on the evidence and causes identified during the investigation and analysis.
Tip: When specialized knowledge is needed, seek assistance from qualified experts. OSHA's On-Site Consultation Program, safety and health professionals, equipment manufacturers, engineers, workers, and workers' compensation insurers may be useful sources of information and technical assistance.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
7-2. Which of these is considered an immediate corrective action?
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