Legal Framework and Incident Investigation Flashcards

What enforcement powers do UAE health and safety regulators have?

Answer: Workplace inspections, improvement notices, prohibition notices, fines, criminal prosecution, and authority to close unsafe workplaces

UAE H&S regulators have powers including workplace inspections (announced and unannounced), issuing improvement and prohibition notices, imposing fines, criminal prosecution for serious breaches, and closing unsafe workplaces.

What is the domino theory of accident causation?

Answer: Heinrich's theory that accidents result from a sequence of events (social environment, fault of person, unsafe act/condition, accident, injury) where removing one 'domino' prevents the accident

Heinrich's domino theory proposes that injuries result from a chain of five events. Removing any one 'domino' (especially the unsafe act/condition) breaks the chain and prevents the accident and resulting injury.

What is the role of safety representatives and safety committees?

Answer: Safety representatives represent worker safety concerns, while committees bring management and workers together to consult on H&S matters and make recommendations

Safety representatives voice worker safety concerns and participate in inspections. Safety committees provide a formal consultation forum where management and workers discuss H&S issues, review incidents, and make improvement recommendations.

What is the Bird/Germain loss causation model used in incident investigation?

Answer: A model showing that for every serious injury, there are many minor injuries and even more near-misses, indicating the importance of investigating all incidents

The loss causation model (Heinrich/Bird triangle) shows that for every major injury, there are approximately 10 minor injuries, 30 property damage incidents, and 600 near-misses, emphasizing the value of investigating and learning from all events.

What corrective actions should follow an incident investigation?

Answer: Implement immediate corrections, develop long-term systemic improvements, update risk assessments, communicate lessons learned, and monitor effectiveness of actions taken

Post-investigation actions should include immediate corrections to prevent recurrence, systemic improvements addressing root causes, updated risk assessments, organization-wide lessons learned communication, and monitoring that actions are effective.

What record-keeping requirements exist for health and safety in UAE workplaces?

Answer: Risk assessments, training records, incident reports, inspection records, health surveillance results, and maintenance logs must be maintained for specified periods

UAE workplaces must maintain comprehensive H&S records including risk assessments, training documentation, incident and accident reports, inspection records, health surveillance data, equipment maintenance logs, and permit to work records.