Element element element element element what should be investigated?

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1.3
ELEMENT 1.3
ELEMENT 1.2
ELEMENT 1.5
ELEMENT 1.1
ELEMENT 1.4
Level of investigation
Criteria
Who should be involved
Minimal-level
Would be appropriate where the 
incident is unlikely to happen again, 
and the worst consequence would be a 
minor injury. An example of this would 
be a contact allergy to a worker while 
using a substance for single use.
A supervisor looks at the incident and 
circumstances and determines what 
needs to be put in place to prevent a 
similar event.
Low-level
Would be carried out where the 
incident could (certain, likely or 
possible to) occur again but no injury 
would result, such as dropping boxes 
during repetitive handling; or it would 
be carried out where the incident is 
unlikely to happen again but the injury 
may be more significant, such as a trip 
hazard in a non-routine one-off activity.
A supervisor or line manager does 
a short investigation to identify 
immediate, underlying and root causes 
to prevent it happening again.
Medium-level
Would be appropriate where the 
incident is unlikely to happen again but 
could cause serious injury, such as a fall 
from low-level height during a non-
routine maintenance activity.
This is a more detailed investigation 
that may involve safety representatives, 
subject matter experts and the 
organisation’s health and safety team.
High-level
Required if the worst outcome could 
have been a fatality, regardless of 
whether it is likely to recur or not.
This is a team-based approach involving 
line managers, supervisors, health 
and safety managers and safety 
representatives, ideally led by an 
impartial senior manager.
As mentioned at the beginning of this book, the aim of the NEBOSH HSE Introduction to Incident Investigation qualification is 
to equip individuals to carry out non-complex incident investigations. It is, therefore, extremely important that the investigator 
recognises when they are likely to be outside of their capability as investigators. Some incidents are extremely complex and as 
such will require the appropriate expertise to undertake the investigation.

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NEBOSH HSE Introduction to Incident Investigation