Incident Investigation

Definition

Incident Investigation
(a.k.a., Accident Investigation)

the safety engineering task during which safety incidents are investigated

Classification

As illustrated in the preceding figure, Safety Certification is part of the following inheritance hierarchy:

• Type: Concrete
• Superclass: Safety Task
• Subclasses:
  • None

Responsibilities

The typical responsibilities of Incident Investigation are to:

• Investigate safety incidents.
• Determine the causes of these safety incidents.
• Prevent future safety incidents.

Preconditions

Incident Investigation typically may begin when the following preconditions hold:

• The safety team is adequately staffed and trained in incident investigation.

Completion Criteria

Incident Investigation is typically complete when the following postconditions hold:

• The incident investigation report is complete and approved.
• Records have been added to the safety compliance repository.

Steps

Incident Investigation typically involves the safety team performing the following steps in an iterative, incremental, parallel, and time-boxed manner:

• Investigate the accident:
  • Determine the asset(s) impacted.
  • Determine the harm to these assets.
  • Determine the causes of the accident including hazard and vulnerabilities.
• Document the accident in the accident investigation report.
• Update the safety compliance repository.

Techniques

Incident Investigation is typically performed using the following techniques:

• Investigation
• Compliance Repositoryging
• Root cause analysis
• Documentation content and format standards
• Document templates
• Document inspection checklists

Work Products

Incident Investigation typically results in the production of the following work products:

• Incident Investigation Report
• Safety Compliance Repository record

Guidelines

• Investigating near misses as well as accidents is a good way to prevent future accidents.