Appendix - C Knight Frank Property Services Pvt.

Ltd
Format/Incident/03

Incident/Accident Investigation
Introduction
1. As part of the FM industry, there will be numerous incidents and accidents, which will mandate an
investigation, to be able to arrive at the Root Cause of the incident/accident and, thereafter, initiate
immediate corrective actions and institute preventive measures. These are crucial stages in an
investigation, the success of which will assist in mitigation/non-recurrence of similar
incidents/accidents.

Definitions
2. The OHSAS 18001:2007 standard gives definitions of various terms. The definitions of terms related
to incidents are given in the SOP – ‘Incident investigation and Reporting.’ Definitions of some critical
terms are given below in simple terms for ease of understanding.
a. Incident. Simply stated, it is an individual occurrence or an event.
b. Accident. Simply stated, it is an undesirable or an unfortunate happening that occurs
unintentionally, usually resulting in harm, injury, damage or loss.
c. Investigation. Simply stated, it is an inquiry for ascertaining facts.
Note:
For the purpose of convenience, mention of ‘incident’ in the subsequent paragraphs, must be interpreted as both,
incident and accident.

Shortcomings
3. The following shortcomings have been observed in the process of Incident Investigation:
a) Lack of clarity at the level of site staff as to what is an incident and whether it requires an
investigation or not.
b) Inhibition to escalate an Incident Report; due to oversight or carelessness, incapability to
investigate, attempt to cover-up, not being able to understand the severity/repercussions of
the incident and so on.

Incident
Incident Warranting an Investigation (Important)
4. An occurrence or an event which results in the following will be considered an “Incident” and must
be followed up with an “Investigation”.
a) Injury
b) Fatality
c) Equipment/plant Failure
d) Process/system Failure
e) Potential of causing injury, fatality, damage, system/equipment/process failure
f) Safety/security lapses
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Note:
1. A subsequent enquiry/investigation by other agencies like the fire department, police, hospital, etc does not
negate the requirement of an investigation at the site level, i.e., a site investigation is mandatory under any
circumstances.
2. An incident of grievous nature, e.g., murder, suicide, rape, etc. will not be investigated by the site team. Such
cases will be investigated by the Government’s law enforcement agencies. However, the site team will provide all
assistance to them, cordon off the location of the incident and provide any information sought by them.

Types of Incidents
5. Incidents can be categorized as under.
a. Natural calamities/disasters: this is self-explanatory;
b. Man-made disasters: routinely includes thefts, fire, electric shocks, localized fights,
vandalism, staff strikes, vehicle accidents, equipment failures, system/process failures,
security/safety lapses and such incidents.

Some Case Studies

6. Following are some case studies for the purpose of amplification.
a. A wrongly parked vehicle is not an incident by itself, however, if it is parked in such a
manner that it causes an accident or has the potential to cause an accident, it becomes an
incident.
b. Children playing football in the skating rink is not an incident, however, if something is
damaged or someone gets hurt/injured, it becomes an incident.

Investigation
7. Procedure for investigation is given in para 3 of the SOP – ‘Incident Reporting and investigation.’
Given below are detail steps to be followed in carrying out investigation which will assist the Site
Manager/the site staff to conduct a systematic and coherent investigation. These should be used as
pointers and actual investigation should be carried specific to the site and the incident.
a) Write down all the details and facts, pertaining to the incident, known at the time of
commencement of investigation, e.g., dates, timings, persons involved, injuries, damages, etc.
b) Preferably ensure that the investigations are done in a room/location, where you are not likely
to be disturbed by routine matters; ideally, the initial investigations must be conducted at the
actual location of the incident.
c) If possible, have a neutral person in attendance throughout the course of the investigations.
d) Start calling all the persons, involved directly in the incident and indirectly in the process (call
them victims/witnesses). Victim(s), if available, may be called initially.
e) Request the victim/witness to first give their narration, i.e., whatever he/she knows about the
incident.
f) Next, pose questions to each victim/witness, which are relevant to the incident and the process.
g) At the end of each person’s statement and Q & A, obtain his/her signatures/date/time. The
statements should be similarly signed by the neutral person and the Investigating Officer
Appendix - C Knight Frank Property Services Pvt. Ltd
Format/Incident/03

h) Once statements of all the perceived persons have been obtained, structure the incident
chronologically or sequentially.
i) A picture is likely to emerge.
j) Note down the emerging gaps in the picture and contradictory or disputable statements.
k) Corroborate with the help of documents, CCTV recordings, photographs and circumstantial
evidence.
l) If some witness(es) have to be called again for further clarity, it must be done and these
statements must be recorded as supplementary statements. If it is not possible for the
witness(es) to come personally, send a structured questionnaire to obtain their responses.
m) A better picture is likely to emerge.
n) From the investigations, derive the following:
i. Root Cause
ii. Human failure, if any
iii. Process failure, if any
iv. Equipment failure, if any
v. Impact on site operations
vi. Financial loss, if any
vii. Safety/security lapse if any

o) Finally, based on the above, note down the Corrective and Preventive Actions with respect to
the incident, take immediate Corrective Action(s) and institute Preventive Action(s).
p) Dispatch Incident Report to all concerned, as stipulated in the escalation matrix.

Conclusion
8. The contents above are intended to simplify, explain and facilitate the process of Incident
Investigation. The Investigation Report is the back-end support for filing the Incident Report on KF
CommunITy