Incident Reporting & Investigation
How to report, classify and investigate workplace incidents and near misses — from first response and evidence gathering to causal analysis, SMART corrective actions and lessons learned. For anyone who reports incidents, and for supervisors and HSE staff who investigate them.
55m
Total time
4
Competency levels
12
Lessons
What you'll learn
- Explain why every incident and near miss must be reported, and what actual versus potential severity means
- Classify incidents correctly as fatality, LTI, RWC, MTC, FAC or near miss, and identify high-potential (HiPo) events
- Apply the correct first-response sequence: make safe, care for people, preserve the scene, notify
- Gather evidence using the 4 Ps, interview witnesses to understand rather than blame, and build a factual timeline
- Analyse immediate and underlying causes using 5-Whys, fishbone and barrier-based methods matched to incident severity
- Write SMART corrective actions with owners and due dates, verify their effectiveness, and share transferable lessons learned
Curriculum
Progress through each competency level in order.
1
Awareness
- 3mWhy We Report EverythingKnowledge
- 3mHow Incidents Are ClassifiedKnowledge
- 7mAwareness Check: Reporting & ClassificationAssessment
2
Knowledge
- 3mFirst Response: Make Safe, Care, Preserve, NotifyKnowledge
- 3mGathering the Facts: the 4 Ps and the TimelineKnowledge
- 8mKnowledge Check: Response & EvidenceAssessment
3
Skill
- 3mCausal Analysis: From Immediate Causes to Failed BarriersKnowledge
- 3mPractical: Investigate a Near MissAssignment
- 8mSkill Check: Causal AnalysisAssessment
4
Mastery
- 3mActions That Prevent RecurrenceKnowledge
- 3mPractical: Lead an Investigation to Close-OutAssignment
- 8mMastery Check: Close-Out & LearningAssessment
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