Organisations invest a lot in setting up and utilising incident investigation processes. There are a lot of methodologies available to support thorough incident investigation and these are implemented widely.
However, despite all the effort, we often see that incident investigations rarely adequate describe the issue, pin point the reasons and address them. Too often the organisation is merely following the process and not really achieving the desired outcome (preventing it happening again). I like to describe it as “following the bouncing ball rather than actually understanding the game”.
So how do you know if your organisation is getting value out of incident investigations?
Here are some things to consider:
Are your investigators fully support by senior management or are the findings often rejected and changed to appease?
Do your investigation reports contain biased or judgemental language?
Do your investigators ensure all findings are based on objective facts or their own opinions?
Is the investigation primarily conducted to serve the purposes of the organisation (create a report) or as an opportunity for those involved to reflect and make any changes (engagement of your people)?
Are those involved in the incident actively involved in exploring all aspects (including information gathering and analysis) or are they just interviewed to provide their version of events?
Is the Draft report reviewed with those involved in the incident before submitting to management (to verify the accuracy of the findings)?
Do you review previous incidents to determine whether the incident is a “one off” or part of a “trend”?
We have a comprehensive review process that can identify these issues ( and any others) that are hampering your organisation from achieving maximum value from your incident investigations.