Churches and religious organizations may be the last place people think of as being risky or dangerous. However, every day dozens of churches experience theft, building damage, vehicle accidents and personal injuries. Understanding what to do before, during and after one of these events can help minimize their negative effects. A prompt, thorough investigation is the key to an effective strategy for holding the line on losses. An accident investigation serves three purposes: (1) to gather information related to the accident (2) to learn what caused the accident through an analysis of the facts, and (3) to implement solutions that will prevent the incident from recurring. In this publication, we will review approaches that church leaders should use to conduct an accident investigation that can help reduce a church’s costs and liability.
Before an incident occurs
Post emergency numbers or 911 next to all church office telephones. Not all communities are covered by a 911 service, so do not assume that dialing 911 will reach your emergency service provider.
Ensure that your church is equipped with a sanitary and well-stocked first aid kit, adequate for the types of injuries you can anticipate for the events sponsored by your church. For instance, if your church sponsors sporting events, it would make sense to stock your kit with splints and ice packs. Church leaders are encouraged to seek the advice of a local medical provider for the type and amount of supplies needed for your church's activities. Don’t forget to have stocked and sanitary first aid kits available in all church vehicles or volunteer vehicles used for church sponsored outings.
Prepare an accident investigation kit that is readily accessible to all church leaders and staff members who may need to respond to an emergency or complete an investigation.
The kit should contain:
- Accident investigation forms
- Witness statement forms
- Pens/pencils
- A tape measure
- A disposable camera
- A list of emergency contacts names and phone numbers, such as emergency medical services, medical providers, church leaders to be notified, and insurance claims contacts
Church leaders should train several church staff members and property/business committee members on how to complete an accident investigation to aid in prompt reporting of claims. An accident investigation is more than just filling out a series of forms, as we'll discuss further in the following sections.
During an accident event:
Secure the scene
The three primary goals following an accident are to prevent injury to others, facilitate treatment for the injured person and to preserve the incident scene so that facts and information can be gathered accurately. Only witnesses and those critical to the care of the injured person should remain in the area. To help reduce the effects of suggestive influence, witnesses should avoid talking with each other regarding what they observed.
Call 911/emergency responders
Following an accident, your first priority is to attend to the injured person's immediate medical needs. Therefore, church emergency responders should call 911 (or the appropriate emergency phone number) without hesitation. Use the following tips when talking to an emergency operator:
- Remain calm. Take a deep breath and maintain a steady, even tone.
- Listen carefully and answer the emergency service’s questions as precisely as possible. Calls may need to be transferred to another service depending upon your situation. Do not hang up.
- When asked, slowly, calmly and succinctly tell the operator the nature of the emergency. In some instances, the call-taker may give you directions. Listen carefully, follow each step exactly and ask for clarification if you do not understand.
- Do not hang up the call until directed to do so by the operator.
- Have a church member wait outside for the emergency services so that they can be escorted to the scene of the accident.
Do no further harm
Unless the individual will be harmed by remaining where he is, do not move him or her until emergency help arrives. Injured persons should be encouraged to remain in place until they have been evaluated for the extent of their injuries. Moving an individual could cause more harm. If appropriate and possible, attempt to set up privacy barriers to honor the injured person's dignity from onlookers.
Regardless of how minor the injury may be, if medical treatment becomes necessary, do not allow injured persons to drive themselves to a medical facility. Arrange for individuals with minor injuries to be driven to the medical provider.
Take note
During the event, the investigator should take note of the exact location of the incident and the condition of the area. Additionally, witnesses should be identified for later discussion. The accident investigation should begin only after the injured person's immediate medical needs have been satisfied.
After immediate first aid needs have been satisfied:
Collect facts
Document the accident scene, noting the specific location of the incident in relation to fixed objects such as walls, doorways, etc. Use a tape measure to identify the location in a sketched drawing of the location. When taking photographs, place the tape measure into the photo shot. Take a variety of photos using different angles. Document each shot taken to aid others in understanding those photos. Do not lose photographs – this can be seen as destruction of evidence and can be used against the church, should the matter go to court.
Interview witnesses
Witness interviews should be conducted one at a time. Ask witnesses to write down their version of what they observed, or interview them and write down the facts as they state them. Confirm witnesses names, home addresses and telephone information. Use open-ended questions, generally prefaced with who, what, where, when, how and why to help the witnesses expand their answers. Avoid asking for opinions; keep to factual statements. Instead of asking, “In your opinion, what do you believe happened here?” ask, “What did you observe?”
Interview the injured person
In the event of an injury, be sensitive as to when and how you interview the injured person. Again, use open-ended questions when interviewing or asking the injured person to write down his or her version of what occurred.
Analyze the facts
Develop a sequence of events identifying what occurred leading up to the incident, during the incident and immediately following. The sequence of events should include a timeline as best as you can determine.
Filling out forms
Attempt to answer all questions on your church’s accident investigation form. If no answer is available or the question does not apply, indicate this on the form. Answers should be complete, specific and absent of opinion. In one instance, an accident investigation report stated that an injured person was “drunk.” As it turned out, the person had a physical disability that gave the appearance of intoxication. The injured party's attorney discovered this information on the report and sued for defamation of character. It would better to simply state “the individual appeared to have difficulty walking, speaking, standing still, etc.,” as opposed to a potentially damaging opinion.
Investigators should use alleged phrasing such as, “the injured person, witness, etc., stated that,” when writing down statements or accounts of the events. Stating “the person was injured while…” could be construed as saying that the statement provided is factual when it may not be.
Report the incident
Timely investigations and reporting (typically within 24 hours of the incident) are critical to reducing related costs of claims. In many states, late reporting can result in penalties assessed against the church. More important is the benefit derived from quickly reporting the claim to your insurance adjuster who can help minimize related costs.
When reporting a claim, be sure that your claims adjuster has the name and phone number of a contact person who can be reliably reached and is knowledgeable about the claim. Also, provide the adjuster with a contact who is authorized by the church to agree to settlements with the adjuster. For instance, the primary contact may be the church secretary, but the authorized contact may be the chairperson of board of trustees.
Determine the cause
Nearly all accidents are caused (entirely or in part) by unsafe acts or behaviors. Your investigation should try to determine what actions led to the accident, such as:
- Failure to fix unsafe building items – lighting, walking surfaces, handrails
- Failure to maintain building/utility equipment
- Not following church policies or procedures
- Allowing poor housekeeping – unorganized areas Unauthorized use of equipment or tools
- Using the wrong tool for the job
- Horseplay or taking unsafe/distracting actions
- Failure to act on previous complaints/recommendations
- Poor layout
- Driving/moving too fast for conditions
- Lack of supervision or oversight
Take corrective action to prevent recurrence
Try to identify the most fundamental reasons, an incident occurred, and then determine the most practical and effective way to correct those causes. Simply by asking “why,” you can often reach the root cause of most incidents.
Example: Every year, several church members are injured due to slips and falls.
- Because the tile floor is wet during inclement weather from people tracking in water
- Because the floor mats at the entry doors are old, too small and do not sufficiently remove water from the shoes of people entering the church
- Because the church can not afford to purchase new floor matting
- Because the business committee did not budget for these mats
Solution: Short term, seek emergency funds to purchase or lease floor matting to cover the tiled areas entrances Long term, include safety improvements in the church's annual budget
Effective solutions typically include both physical and administrative actions. In the example above, the physical action was to install new floor mats. The administrative action was to budget each year for safety improvements. Churches are encouraged to use both types of solutions when working to prevent accidents.
The information in this publication was compiled by Zurich Services Corporation from sources believed to be reliable. We do not guarantee the accuracy of this information or any results and further assume no liability in connection with this publication, including any information, methods or safety suggestions contained herein. Moreover, Zurich Services Corporation reminds you that this publication cannot be assumed to contain every acceptable safety and compliance procedure or that additional procedures might not be appropriate under the circumstances. The subject matter of this publication is not tied to any specific insurance product nor will adopting these procedures insure coverage under any insurance policy. ©2008 Zurich Services Corporation