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
The action plan
1
Gathering the 
information
2
Analysing the 
information
3
Risk control 
measures
4
The action 
plan
ACTIVITY
Before we look at this section in detail, what sort of things would you expect the action plan to consider? 
Note down some ideas and check whether you were right as the tutor goes through this section.
The action plan is the outcome of a thorough incident investigation. At this stage, the top/
senior management of the organisation should be involved as they are the ones with the 
power to act on the recommendations.
The action plan should include:
y
risk control measures to deal with all immediate, underlying and root causes identified 
during the investigation;
y
whether human error is a factor in the incident, and what can be done to reduce the chance of error occurring in future;
y
the identification of SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) objectives to ensure that the 
measures are implemented with the correct degree of priority;

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NEBOSH HSE Introduction to Incident Investigation
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1.3
ELEMENT 1.1
ELEMENT 1.3
ELEMENT 1.2
ELEMENT 1.4
ELEMENT 1.5
y
a realistic timescale which needs to be assigned to each objective, and someone made responsible for that objective, to 
ensure the action is taken within the specified timescale so it can then be closed out; and
y
which risk assessments/procedures need to be reviewed and updated.
Organisations will need to ask:
y
Are there any trends that require further investigation?
y
What did the incident cost?
y
How are these findings and controls going to be communicated to interested parties and stakeholders?
y
How are the actions going to be tracked and closed out?
Organisations should ensure they keep their own records of incidents, their causes and the remedial measures taken. This will 
allow them to identify any trends that would require them to act more promptly or efficiently to prevent similar circumstances 
and so improve their overall understanding and management of risk within their work activities.
It is also useful to estimate the cost of incidents to fully appreciate the true cost of incidents and ill health to your business.