In South Africa, the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) sets out the requirements for incident investigation in the workplace. The purpose of incident investigation is to identify the root cause(s) of an incident and to implement corrective actions to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

Here are the key steps for incident investigation in South Africa:

1. Reporting the incident: All incidents, including near-misses, must be reported to the relevant authority, such as the employer, safety officer or supervisor, as soon as possible.
2. Securing the scene: The scene of the incident should be secured to prevent further incidents or contamination of evidence.
3. Gathering information: Information should be collected about the incident, including the date, time, location, nature of the incident, people involved, and any witness statements.
4. Conducting the investigation: An investigation team should be established to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident. The team should be multidisciplinary and should include representatives from different departments.
5. Identifying the root cause: The investigation team should analyze the information gathered to identify the underlying causes of the incident. The root cause is the fundamental reason for the incident.
6. Developing corrective actions: Based on the findings of the investigation, the team should develop corrective actions to address the root cause(s) of the incident. Corrective actions should be implemented as soon as possible to prevent similar incidents from occurring.
7. Communicating the findings: The investigation team should communicate the findings of the investigation to all relevant parties, including management, employees, and the relevant authority.
8. Reviewing and monitoring: The effectiveness of the corrective actions should be reviewed and monitored to ensure that they are preventing similar incidents from occurring in the future.

It is important to note that incident investigation is a critical aspect of workplace safety and should be conducted in a systematic and thorough manner.

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