INGENIEUR
Collection of Evidence
damage to property or environment. Investigators
or teams should identify the person-in-charge at
the incident site and contact him/her prior to a
site visit. They should briefly explain the reason
why they are conducting an investigation. To
improve the effectiveness of the investigation,
the managers or victim’s colleagues should be
involved during the inquiry process.
Safety precautions before any investigation
should be taken to establish if there is any
residual danger at the site, the methods to access
the area, the level of risk at the site, whether
control measures should be considered during
the process and whether any personal protective
equipment is required.
Create Some Hypothesis
The initial hypothesis is important in any incident
investigation to ensure that all possible causes
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are properly considered. Possible hypotheses
should be tested throughout the investigation
process. The most possible hypothesis is the one
that matches most of the facts and evidence and
is likely to lead to the root cause of the incident.
Sometimes challenges are faced by investigators
when conducting investigations in areas that they
are not familiar with or it is beyond their knowledge.
This makes it difficult for investigators to form
valid hypotheses of the accident. To overcome
this issue, investigators should review documents
specifically related to workplace activities such
as: Job Safety Analysis, Hazard and Operability
Study (HAZOP), material safety data sheets, risk
assessment reports, safe operation procedures,
permits-to-work, or any other related workplace
checklist that can help the investigators narrow
down possible deficiencies in the safe working
system that led to the accident.