SAF Incident Investigation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which technique involves asking 'why' repeatedly to trace an incident back to its fundamental cause?
- Fault tree analysis
- 5 Whys analysis (Correct answer)
- Fishbone diagram
- Change analysis
Correct answer: 5 Whys analysis
The 5 Whys technique iteratively asks 'why' at each discovered cause until the root cause is identified.
Question 2: What is the primary purpose of securing the incident scene immediately after an event?
- To prevent media access
- To preserve evidence and prevent secondary incidents (Correct answer)
- To allow management to assess liability
- To enable rapid cleanup and return to operations
Correct answer: To preserve evidence and prevent secondary incidents
Scene security protects physical evidence from disturbance and prevents additional personnel from being injured by remaining hazards.
Question 3: A 'near miss' differs from an incident primarily because:
- It involves fewer people
- No actual injury, illness, or property damage occurred (Correct answer)
- It happens in low-risk environments only
- It does not require any documentation
Correct answer: No actual injury, illness, or property damage occurred
A near miss has all the potential of an incident but results in no actual harm — making it a critical learning opportunity.
Question 4: Which document typically provides the formal written record of an investigation's findings and corrective actions?
- Safety data sheet (SDS)
- Incident investigation report (Correct answer)
- Job hazard analysis (JHA)
- Emergency action plan
Correct answer: Incident investigation report
The incident investigation report captures all findings, causal factors, and recommended corrective actions for review and follow-up.
Question 5: When interviewing a witness shortly after an incident, the investigator should primarily:
- Assign blame to establish accountability
- Ask open-ended questions and actively listen (Correct answer)
- Limit the interview to written statements only
- Delay the interview until all physical evidence is collected
Correct answer: Ask open-ended questions and actively listen
Open-ended questions encourage witnesses to share their complete account without leading them toward a predetermined conclusion.
Question 6: What does 'loss causation' in the context of incident investigation refer to?
- Financial liability assigned after an incident
- The sequence of events and conditions that lead to a loss event (Correct answer)
- OSHA citations issued following an investigation
- Insurance claim procedures for workplace injuries
Correct answer: The sequence of events and conditions that lead to a loss event
Loss causation models describe how contributing factors combine through a chain of events to produce an undesired loss.
Question 7: Which corrective action type addresses the fundamental system or process failure rather than just its symptoms?
- Interim corrective action
- Administrative control
- Root cause corrective action (Correct answer)
- Disciplinary corrective action
Correct answer: Root cause corrective action
Root cause corrective actions target the underlying systemic failure, providing more durable prevention than symptom-level fixes.
SAF Incident Investigation 2
Which technique involves asking 'why' repeatedly to trace an incident back to its fundamental cause?