Stabilise and preserve
Immediate care, emergency response and site safety come first. Relevant physical and digital evidence should then be protected where it is safe and appropriate to do so.
Investigation support
Establish what happened. Learn what needs to change.
Structured, evidence-led support for workplace accidents, incidents and near misses, with findings focused on underlying causes and proportionate corrective action.
Evidence before assumption
Move beyond blame and identify the conditions behind the event
A useful investigation considers more than the final unsafe act. It looks at the task, planning, supervision, information, equipment, environment, interfaces and decisions that shaped what happened.
MacSafety Solutions can provide an independent investigation or support your internal process. The scope will reflect the seriousness of the event, the evidence available and the decisions the report needs to inform.
Investigation process
A controlled route from response to learning
Define the scope
We clarify the event, people involved, instruction route, confidentiality needs, reporting deadlines and required outputs.
Gather evidence
Depending on scope, this may include the scene, photographs, records, RAMS, permits, training information, plant data and witness accounts.
Analyse causes
We separate facts from assumptions and examine immediate, contributing and underlying factors.
Report and act
Findings, evidence limitations and proportionate recommendations are presented clearly for review and action.
Possible scope
What the review may cover
The evidence and analysis plan is agreed for the specific event. Not every item will be relevant to every investigation.
Instructions & controls
Risk assessments, method statements, permits, briefings, change control and the expected sequence of work.
Conditions & decisions
What people were actually doing, the pressures and constraints present, and how conditions differed from the plan.
People, plant & environment
Competence, supervision, equipment condition, layout, access, substances, weather, lighting and relevant interfaces.
Witnesses & records
Accounts, photographs, inspection data, training records, messages, drawings and other information available to the review.
Contributing factors
Immediate and underlying conditions, including planning, coordination, communication and organisational factors.
Corrective actions
Recommendations linked to the findings, prioritised and framed so responsibility and close-out can be agreed.
Reporting decisions and legal privilege
An investigation report is not a substitute for immediate notification, emergency response or a dutyholder’s decision about statutory reporting. Where a reportable-event question arises, we can help organise the facts and point you toward the appropriate official guidance, but the responsible person retains the reporting duty unless a different arrangement is lawfully and expressly agreed.
For Northern Ireland reporting information, see HSENI’s report-an-incident service.
If legal privilege may be relevant, obtain legal advice before commissioning or circulating an investigation. MacSafety Solutions does not provide legal advice.
Handle personal information carefullyIncident material can include health information and sensitive accounts. The commissioning brief should define who may receive information, how evidence will be transferred and how records will be controlled.
Need a clear, independent investigation process?
Contact us with the essential facts and any time-sensitive requirements. We will confirm scope and availability.