Investigating an incident and recording the outcome

Take an incident from triage through investigation, findings and corrective actions to closure. Every step is time-stamped and kept in the incident’s timeline and audit log.

Before you begin

• Triage needs the Triage incidents permission; running the investigation needs Manage investigations or being the owner; closing needs Close incidents.
• The incident has been logged (see Recording an incident: what happened, who was involved and immediate actions).

Triage and assign an owner

1. Open the incident from Quality → Incidents. The pipeline at the top shows New, In triage, Notified, Under investigation, Actions open, Awaiting closure approval and Closed.
2. Select Triage. The incident moves to In triage.
3. Select the Owner: button and pick the investigation owner in Assign investigation owner.
4. If a worker should not work with the participant during the investigation, select Stand down next to them in People involved.

Investigate

1. Select Start investigation. You see Investigation started.
2. Open the Investigation tab. In Add to the investigation, choose the Type (Interview, Evidence, Contributing factor, Finding, Root cause or Note) and write the Details.
3. Select Add entry. Entries are time-stamped and cannot be deleted.
4. In Findings, write the Findings summary, list Root causes one per line and choose Substantiation (Substantiated, Not substantiated, Inconclusive or Not applicable). Select Save findings.
5. Select Complete investigation. You see Investigation complete. Corrective actions are open.

Track corrective actions

1. Open the Corrective actions tab.
2. In Add a corrective action, describe the Action, choose the Owner and the Due date, then select Assign action.
3. Tick the box on an action’s row when it is done.
4. Select Add to improvement register to track a longer-term action in Continuous improvement register.

Close the incident

1. On the Overview tab, find the Closure card.
2. Write the Closure summary and the Lessons learned.
3. Select Request closure. The request goes to Home → Approvals inbox for someone other than the owner to approve.
4. If your organisation does not require approval and you can close incidents, select Close incident.
5. To reopen a closed incident, type a Reason to reopen and select Reopen.

Tips

• Use Edit to correct facts; give a reason, which is kept in the audit log.
• Use Void only for duplicates and reports made in error. The record is kept read-only and every deadline stops.
• The Timeline and audit tab shows every event and, if you can view the audit log, every view, change and export.

If something goes wrong

Owner is involved: The investigation owner can’t be a person involved in the incident.

Choose someone who is not listed in People involved.

Assign an investigation owner first.

Use the Owner: button before Start investigation.

Write the findings summary first. / Record whether the allegation or concern was substantiated.

Fill in the Findings card and select Save findings before Complete investigation.

Closure blocked: The incident can’t be closed yet.

Check for open corrective actions not in the improvement register, Commission notifications not lodged, or an open safeguarding referral with no follow-up date.