STSC Incident Investigation and OSHA Recordkeeping — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under OSHA 29 CFR 1904, which of the following injuries is recordable on the OSHA 300 Log?
- A laceration cleaned and covered with an adhesive bandage on site
- A sprained wrist for which a physician prescribes medication (Correct answer)
- A pre-existing back condition that a worker reports flared up without any identifiable work event
- A mild headache treated with an over-the-counter pain reliever
Correct answer: A sprained wrist for which a physician prescribes medication
OSHA recordable cases include work-related injuries or illnesses requiring medical treatment beyond first aid. Prescription medication crosses that threshold and makes the case recordable. First-aid-only treatment, OTC medication, and non-work-related conditions are not recordable.
Question 2: Which root cause analysis tool organizes contributing causes into categories (people, equipment, methods, materials, environment) that branch from a central problem statement?
- Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)
- Fishbone (Ishikawa) Diagram (Correct answer)
- Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
- Bow-Tie Analysis
Correct answer: Fishbone (Ishikawa) Diagram
The Fishbone (Ishikawa) Diagram visually maps cause-and-effect relationships, with categories of causes branching off a central 'spine' that represents the incident. It helps investigation teams systematically identify contributing factors across multiple domains simultaneously.
Question 3: After a recordable injury, within how many calendar days must a supervisor complete OSHA Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report)?
- 24 hours of the incident occurring
- 3 calendar days of being notified
- 7 calendar days of being notified (Correct answer)
- At the end of the calendar quarter
Correct answer: 7 calendar days of being notified
OSHA requires Form 301 (or an equivalent workers' compensation first report of injury) to be completed within 7 calendar days of the employer being notified of a recordable work-related injury or illness. The same deadline applies to updating the OSHA 300 Log.
Question 4: A worker on a steel erection crew narrowly avoids being struck by a dropped bolt — no injury results. Why is it important to formally investigate this near-miss?
- OSHA requires written reports for all near-misses involving falling objects
- Near-misses share the same root causes as actual incidents and signal systemic hazards requiring correction (Correct answer)
- Near-miss reports must be submitted to the workers' compensation carrier within 48 hours
- Workers involved in near-misses are required to complete additional OSHA training
Correct answer: Near-misses share the same root causes as actual incidents and signal systemic hazards requiring correction
Near-misses indicate that the conditions for a serious accident already exist. They share the same contributing factors as actual incidents, and investigating them allows organizations to correct hazards before someone is harmed. The concept is sometimes illustrated by Heinrich's Triangle, which shows that many near-misses precede each serious injury.
Question 5: Employers with 10 or more employees are required to post the OSHA 300A Annual Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses:
- Continuously on the company's public-facing website
- In a prominent workplace location from February 1 through April 30 each year (Correct answer)
- Immediately following each recordable incident
- Only upon written request from an OSHA compliance officer
Correct answer: In a prominent workplace location from February 1 through April 30 each year
OSHA requires the 300A summary — which covers the prior calendar year's recordable injuries and illnesses — to be posted in a visible location for employees from February 1 through April 30. It must be certified by a company executive and is separate from the 300 Log itself, which is maintained year-round but not posted.
Question 6: What is the purpose of the '5 Whys' technique in incident investigation?
- To identify five individuals who share responsibility for the incident
- To repeatedly ask 'why' in order to move from immediate causes to underlying root causes (Correct answer)
- To document five separate corrective actions required after any recordable injury
- To interview a minimum of five witnesses before closing an investigation
Correct answer: To repeatedly ask 'why' in order to move from immediate causes to underlying root causes
The '5 Whys' technique involves asking 'why' after each answer — typically five times — to drill down past surface-level immediate causes and reach the true systemic root cause of an incident. Stopping at the immediate cause leads to corrective actions that prevent recurrence of that specific event but leave the underlying hazard unaddressed.
STSC Incident Investigation and OSHA Recordkeeping
Under OSHA 29 CFR 1904, which of the following injuries is recordable on the OSHA 300 Log?