Incident Investigation, Recording and Reporting
What this domain tests
This domain tests whether you can separate an accident, a near miss and a dangerous occurrence, preserve evidence, find causes and meet reporting duties. An accident causes harm; a near miss could have caused harm; a dangerous occurrence is a specified high-potential event. Investigation should establish facts and system failures, not blame.
Core rules
- Secure the scene, preserve evidence and provide first aid or emergency care first.
- Gather facts through interviews, photographs, documents, training records and a timeline; use methods such as 5 Whys or fishbone analysis.
- Identify immediate and root causes, including control, supervision, design, maintenance and management-system factors.
- Record incidents internally and report serious injuries, fatalities or dangerous occurrences to the regulator within required time limits.
- Track corrective actions to closure and share lessons without exposing confidential medical information.
Worked example
A worker slips on oil near a pump. “Careless worker” is not a root cause. Investigation finds a leaking seal, no drip tray, a missed inspection and no spill kit nearby. Corrective actions include repairing the seal, installing containment, revising the inspection route, placing spill materials nearby and checking similar pumps. The reasoning is that the slip was the outcome; the leak and weak maintenance controls were the causes.
Traps
Blaming the injured worker; cleaning the scene before photographs; reporting only lost-time cases; accepting “retrain” as the sole action; failing to record near misses that reveal risk.