Incident Investigation Techniques
Finding Solutions That Work
Effective incident investigations identify conditions, behaviors, and steps that may have contributed to the incident. It can help you identify how the existing risk control measures (if any) failed, and what improvements or additional corrections are needed.

Here are a few ideas to get you on the right path towards a successful incident investigation:

Before an incident occurs, implement procedures to help you establish who will conduct the investigation, how to run the investigation, what events to investigate, and what forms to use.  

Ensure all involved know how to capture the facts. Information gathering is one of the most critical steps in completing an incident investigation. Information gathered should only focus on facts. Failing to collect all relevant information can stop you from reaching the root of the problem. Here are a few ideas:
  • Conduct the investigation as soon as possible
  • Control and preserve the scene to protect evidence such as faulty equipment
  • Take pictures of the scene and relevant details 
  • Interview injured worker(s) promptly while information is clear
  • Interview witnesses individually to prevent inadvertently influencing each person's memory
  • Ask open-ended questions - Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why?
  • Seek facts, not fault or fraud 
  • Ensure first-line supervisors are involved in the process and are part of information gathering - Provide an incident investigation kit to include forms, pens, pencils, tape measure, caution tape, camera (if they don't have a smartphone), etc.
Find the root cause. If you see something unsafe in a process, your job isn't just to identify and resolve the hazard and move along. It would be best if you got to the root cause so that it doesn't occur again. An incident (or near miss) and its immediate cause(s) are usually a symptom of more fundamental problems. The fastest and simplest form of root cause analysis starts with defining an issue and then asking "why." Once you have an answer, ask "why" at least four more times. Working this way helps you define the root cause(s).

When conducting your root cause brainstorming session, avoid these common reasons for failed root cause analysis:
  • Starting with assumptions or limited perspective
  • Lack of key participants
  • Focusing on solutions
  • Selecting poor solutions
  • Defining the wrong problem
  • Bypassing important causal factors
  • Limit results to only one root cause. An incident investigation may reveal more than one!
Implement action. After you've found the root cause or causes, there are two distinct actions, corrective and preventive. Corrective is a reactive measure to rectify issues discovered during your incident investigation. Preventive is a proactive measure to set up solutions that address the root of the problem. Your incident investigation should help support the development of preventive and corrective actions that work. 

Preventing injuries and illnesses should be important to your company and your bottom line. The most effective way to do so is to dig deep into the contributing factors that can help you determine the root cause(s). We owe it to our employees, their families, and the success of our company.
Learn More About Zenith
©2024 Zenith Insurance Company
All Rights Reserved. ®TheZenith, TheZenith.com, Zenith, Zenith Agribusiness Solutions (stylized), Zenith Connect, and Zenith Solution Center are registered US service marks.
We respect your right to privacy – view our policy