Run a serious incident investigation that holds up under review

What the Complex Incident Investigation workflow does

Serious incidents carry weight. A recordable injury, a lost-time case, or a high-potential near-miss needs more than a quick form: evidence has to be documented while it is fresh, witnesses interviewed, the root cause traced past the first symptom, and corrective actions tied to the hierarchy of controls. Done by hand, this is ten or more disconnected steps that stretch across days.

The workflow runs all of those phases in one guided sequence. It pulls the incident from Records or a plain-language description, structures the summary, and moves through recordability, evidence, witnesses, root cause, contributing factors, CAPA, and management review. The Safety Professional confirms each phase before the next one starts, and the output is a complete Canvas investigation report with an RCA, a CAPA table, and a management summary.

Where serious investigations break at scale

Three failure modes show up across sites and assessors.

1. Evidence lost to time. The scene gets cleared and witnesses move on before anyone documents what happened, so the investigation rebuilds the event from memory weeks later.
2. Root cause stops at the symptom. Under reporting pressure the investigation lands on a single cause and skips the contributing factors across people, equipment, environment, and the management system, so the same incident returns.
3. CAPA without follow-through. Corrective actions get written without an owner, a priority, or a place on the hierarchy of controls, and the management review never closes the loop.

How the workflow runs

Each phase requires your confirmation before the workflow proceeds.

1. Select or import the incident. Pull a record from Records, a connected external system, or describe the details manually.
2. Confirm the incident summary. The workflow structures who, what, where, when, severity, equipment, environment, and immediate actions for you to confirm or edit.
3. Check recordability and reporting obligations. Recordability is assessed against the applicable jurisdiction, such as OSHA, Cal-OSHA, RIDDOR, or Safe Work Australia, with classification and reporting duties shown.
4. Document the scene and evidence. Work through a scene and evidence checklist so nothing is missed while it is still available.
5. Prepare and review witness interviews. Review or draft interview materials and identify who else needs to be interviewed.
6. Run the root cause analysis. Choose 5 Whys, Fishbone, or Fault Tree Analysis, and the workflow guides the method to a real cause.
7. Assess contributing factors. Examine factors across people, equipment, environment, and the management system.
8. Build the CAPA table. Capture corrective and preventive actions with the hierarchy of controls, responsible parties, and priorities.
9. Draft the management review and lessons learned. Produce a management summary and confirm the lessons to carry forward.
10. Generate the Canvas report. The workflow assembles a full investigation report ready for sign-off.

Who uses this workflow

• Safety Professionals investigating recordable injuries and lost-time incidents
• Plant and site safety leads running high-potential near-miss reviews
• EHS managers preparing investigation reports for management review and regulators
• Insurance loss-control consultants assessing investigation quality on serious claims

What you get when you sign up

• Incident pulled from Records or a plain-language description, no blank investigation pack
• Recordability and reporting obligations assessed against the applicable jurisdiction
• A scene and evidence checklist plus witness interview materials
• A root cause analysis using 5 Whys, Fishbone, or Fault Tree, your choice
• A CAPA table with the hierarchy of controls, owners, and priorities, plus a Canvas report ready for sign-off