Investigating and Reporting Incidents

Identifying the true root causes of incidents is key to improving safety on and offshore. In the constant quest for "zero incidents", the International Marine Contracting Association (IMCA) has published "Guidance on the Investigation and Reporting of Incidents" which aims partly to reflect current practice for setting up incident investigation and reporting procedures, but has the prime aim of getting to grips with the root cause of any incident and thus helping to ensure it doesn't happen again.

The report goes to great lengths to advise the reader on the actual process of incident investigation and reporting, which is important not only for the avoidance of future incidents by learning from mistakes and root cause analysis, but for its own ends too. For example, it explains in easy to understand detail how to look for evidence, how to store that evidence, how to interview witnesses (with example interview questions), how to report interviews, how to conduct site investigation, how to set up an 'incident room', and how to story board with a view to producing a logical report. The comprehensive appendix includes useful sample incident (and near-miss) reporting forms and sample incident management review and company investigation report formats.