Incident Investigation Guide: A Practical Workplace Process
This incident investigation guide provides a structured approach to gathering evidence, understanding contributing factors and developing corrective actions that support learning and prevention.
What Is Incident Investigation?
Incident investigation is a systematic process for understanding what happened, how it happened and what factors contributed. The objective is to generate useful learning and reduce the likelihood of recurrence.
Respond to Immediate Priorities
Protect people, obtain necessary emergency assistance and control continuing hazards. Preserve relevant evidence where appropriate without compromising urgent safety needs.
Gather Evidence
Collect relevant observations, records, photographs where appropriate, equipment information and accounts from people with knowledge of the event. Distinguish evidence from assumptions.
Build the Event Sequence
Establish what occurred before, during and after the incident. A clear timeline can reveal interactions and conditions that isolated facts may not show.
Identify Contributing Factors
Examine equipment, controls, procedures, supervision, planning, communication, workload, environment and other relevant factors. Avoid stopping at the first obvious unsafe act.
Develop Corrective Actions
Select actions that address meaningful contributing factors. Give preference to stronger risk controls where feasible rather than relying automatically on reminders or retraining.
Verify and Share Learning
Confirm that actions are implemented and consider whether lessons apply elsewhere in the organization. Review effectiveness rather than assuming closure equals improvement.
