Facility Rockstars | Emily Giannola on Causal Analysis and Incident Investigation

Emily Giannola on Causal Analysis and Incident Investigation

June 19, 2025 / 43:45/E67

Emily Giannola, Director of Global EHS and Regulatory Compliance at Tecomet—a leading medical device manufacturer—brings a wealth of experience to the conversation. Her impressive background includes time as an OSHA compliance officer and service in the U.S. Coast Guard as a federal on-scene coordinator. Emily shares her deep expertise in safety, security, and emergency management, reflecting on key lessons learned throughout her career. One standout theme is the importance of slowing down during incident response to prevent critical mistakes. She also breaks down the nuances between causal analysis and root cause analysis, bringing the concepts to life through compelling real-world examples. Emily offers practical guidance on staying compliant, preparing for regulatory inspections, and cultivating a proactive safety culture. The episode wraps with a personal touch as she opens up about her passion for animal rescue and community outreach.

Takeaways:

Slow Down and Verify: Emily emphasized the importance of slowing down during incident response and emergency management tasks to avoid rushing and making critical mistakes. Always ensure that corrective actions are thoroughly verified to prevent creating new hazards.
Gather Witness Statements Promptly: It's crucial to collect witness statements and affected person statements within the first 48 hours of an incident. This helps in capturing accurate and immediate recollections, minimizing information loss due to time lapses.
Immediate Corrective Actions: Implement immediate corrective actions to mitigate hazards, even if it means shutting down processes temporarily. Addressing issues while the investigation continues ensures safety and prevents further incidents.
Documentation and Inspection Readiness: Maintain organized and readily accessible documentation (e.g., training records, inspection logs) and utilize central repositories like SharePoint. Make inspections easy for compliance officers by having all necessary documentation prepared and available, demonstrating a proactive safety culture.
Focus on Causal Analysis Over Root Cause Analysis: Adopt a comprehensive causal analysis approach rather than fixating on a single root cause. This involves examining multiple factors and timeline failures contributing to the incident to develop robust corrective actions and defense mechanisms at various points.
Implement Focused Auditing: Conduct focused audits based on recent trends and issues identified in near misses, hazard observations, or reports of discomfort. Create specific, short inspection questionnaires and make it easy for employees and executives to perform these targeted audits.
Collaboration Through Safety Committees: Ensure cross-departmental collaboration via safety committees, involving representatives from operations, maintenance, engineering, and team leaders. Avoid including supervisors or managers to foster open communication and honest feedback from frontline employees.

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