Investigator Responsibilities

Lead Investigator

• assigning additional investigators to investigate certain aspects of the investigation
• making an exoneration decision for each respondent
• completing an investigation and submitting it to the DCP once they believe all relevant information has been collected

DCP

• reviewing the completed investigation submitted by the Lead investigator
• deciding whether to re-open the investigation with feedback to the Lead investigator or closing the investigation

Chief

• has oversight and editing rights for all investigations and is responsible for adding the incidents on ACMS.
• has the ability to extend investigations.

Incident and Investigation Workflow

An incident is raised

• Basic information is logged, usually by the safety team.

An investigation is started

• a Lead and DCP are assigned to the investigation.

The investigation is completed by the assigned investigators

• Investigators work through the different tabs to input the necessary information to inform the investigation. 

The Lead investigator completes the investigation once they believe all the necessary information has been collected

• Using the 'Investigation Admin' the Lead investigator can select the 'Complete' option.

• If there is any missing mandatory information, ACMS will list the outstanding fields and prevent the Lead investigator from completing the investigation until they are amended.

• Once all of the mandatory information has been included in the investigation the Lead will be able to complete/submit the investigation for approval by the DCP.  The Lead can include notes to the DCP e.g. reasons a certain piece of information is missing.

• The DCP will receive an email notification that an investigation has been submitted to them for approval. 

The DCP reviews the investigation

• They decide whether to re-open or close the investigation 

• If the DCP believes that more information is required then they will re-open the investigation with notes to the Lead investigator. The Lead investigator will receive an email notification if this occurs. 

• When closing the investigation the DCP can enter the closed date as well as any final notes. It's also at this point that a Final report can be generated. 

Raising Incidents

At most TOCs, the Safety Team is responsible for logging incidents on ACMS. They are able to add the initial basic information about the incident, for example the date and time it occurred and the control log. 

Starting an Investigation

The Safety Team are also responsible for starting investigations and assigning a Lead and DCP.

Completing an Investigation

Investigations are completed by working through each section or tab along the top of the page.  The functions you can complete on each tab can be accessed using the Admin button. 

SMIS 

This tab allows you to enter information regarding the SMIS. 

Admin Functions:

• Add SMIS Reference: enter SMIS information 
• Update SMIS: alter SMIS existing information 

Incident 

This tab holds the information which was initially input when the incident was logged on the system. When you select the incident on the left hand side you can view the incident information in the subtabs on the right hand side.

Subtabs:

• Detail: incident information
• Property: pre-defined fields required to collect the necessary information for each incident type
• Respondent: lists the person (s) involved in the event
• History: log of changes made to the incident on the system 

Admin Functions:

• Add: if multiple incidents need to be investigated under the same investigation then this option can be used to add an additional incident
• Edit: allows you to edit the information recorded about the incident 

Respondent 

A respondent is defined as a person involved in the incident being investigated. It is possible to assign multiple respondents to an incident. When you select the respondent on the left hand side you can view the incident information in the subtabs on the right hand side.

Either an internal or external respondent can be added to an incident. If a respondent has a personnel record on ACMS then they can be added as an internal respondent. If the respondent does not work at your company or does not have a personnel record on ACMS then they must be added as an external respondent.

Subtabs:

• Detail: basic information about the respondent
• Incident: the incident they are assigned to 
• Property: lists properties specifically related to the respondents rather than the incident as a whole e.g. fatigue index
• Other incidents: details any previous incidents the respondent has been assigned to

Admin Functions:

Add: allows you to assign respondents to the investigation. Selecting Add opens the following page. From here it is possible to add both internal and external. 

Edit: allows you to alter details regarding existing respondents assigned to the investigation

Edit Decision: Typically used at the end of an investigation, this option allows the Lead Investigator to select whether each respondent is exonerated or not. The following pop up is opened. 

• Decision pending: a decision has not been made about whether or not the respondent was responsible for the incident
• Exonerated Yes: If a person is exonerated, they are not held responsible for the incident and will have no consequences.
• Exonerated No: If a person is not exonerated then they are held responsible for the incident and you can use the additional fields to record what actions will be taken and whether they will be removed from safety critical work.

Delete: allows you to remove a respondent from the investigation 

A Lead investigator will not be able to complete the investigation unless all respondents have an exoneration decision.

Investigator 

When the investigation is started a lead investigator and DCP are assigned. Lead investigators have the option to add additional investigators to an investigation where required to contribute. 

To do so, click the Admin button and select 'Assign Investigators', then select the tick box on the left hand side or select the names of the investigators from the drop down list and press submit. The additional investigators will then receive an email notification requesting that they should contribute the necessary information to inform the investigation. The investigator must have the necessary investigator duties on their personnel record to be assigned to an investigation.

Remit Tab 

This defines what users assigned to the Investigation are allowed to do/see as part of said Investigation. For example, they can be allowed to watch CCTV footage, or allowed to view medical records. 

Location Tab

Evidence Tab

The Evidence tab allows you to upload any relevant files in order to help inform the investigation. We can enable a range of different file types for ACMS upload including images and voice files. 

Admin Functions

• Add: allows you to upload an evidence file to the investigation 
• Edit: allows you to edit the file or description of previously uploaded files
• Preview: allows you to preview the files in a tab in your internet browser
• Email: this option allows a copy of the file to be emailed to the email address of the logged in user 
• Download All: allows you to download a copy of every uploaded file
• Delete: allows you to remove an uploaded data file from the investigation

When adding an evidence file the page below opens enabling you to fill in the available fields. It is possible to choose whether or not you would like the evidence to be part of the public domain.   Once you select Submit you will be notified that your file has been successfully uploaded and it will remain listed under the evidence tab.

Sequence of Events Tab

The Sequence of Events or Timeline tab allows you to add a series of text entries which detail the events leading up to as well as following an event. 

Admin Functions

Add: allows you enter one event to the sequence

Add multiple: allows you to enter multiple events at once

Edit: allows you to edit existing events

Delete: option to remove existing events

When adding multiple events, the following page opens up allowing you to enter the relevant information. Once submitted the events sit in chronological order under the Timeline tab. 

Cause Tab

The Cause tab allows you to detail the contributing factors to the incident. 

Admin Functions

Add: allows you to add causes from the pre-defined categories in the system cause set 

Edit: allows you to edit an existing cause

View: allows you to view a list of all the causes added to the investigation

Delete: option to remove existing causes

Typically the cause set contains mandatory cause categories (e.g. an immediate cause must be assigned to an incident). When the Lead Investigator completes the investigation the system will prompt them if there are any missing mandatory causes.

Recommendation Tab

The Recommendation tab allows you to add recommendations in terms of post-incident action as a result of the investigation.  

Admin Functions

• Add: allows you to add recommendations and assign them to an owner
• Edit: allows you to edit existing recommendations
• Delete: option to remove existing recommendations

When a recommendation is added you are required to add a date implemented by, which determines when this recommendation should be completed by. This allows you to report on open recommendations that are yet to be implemented.

Recommendations do not have to be implemented before the investigation is closed by the DCP. The recommendations can be edited after an investigation has been closed, so that you can add a date implemented and any implementation notes.

Reports Tab 

Admin Functions

• Change Report Method: there are two types of report method on ACMS; generate and upload:
  1. The upload method requires investigators to upload a copy of the investigation report to ACMS. This is typically required for more severe incident types which require a more in-depth paper report e.g. derailment or SPAD.
  2. The majority of investigations have a generate report method type assigned to them which involves ACMS generating a report which collates all of the information recorded in each tab. 
• Update Executive Summary: allows you to provide an overview of the investigation
• Generate: allows you to generate a report. All generated reports are listed at the bottom of the tab.
• Email: allows you to email a copy of the investigation report to the logged in user
• Delete: option to remove a generated report

All generated reports will be draft until the investigation has been closed by the DCP and a final investigation report can be generated.

The report methods are assigned to investigations based on the incident type however in an instance where it needs to be changed this admin option allows you to alter the default method.

History Tab

The final tab on the investigation dashboard is the History tab which displays any changes that have been made to the investigation and who completed them.  This tab is essentially a record of signed off changes.

Admin Functions

Add Notes: option to add notes regarding the investigation 

FAQs

Can tasks be delegated to different investigators?

Yes. The Lead Investigator can assign additional investigators to an investigation through the Investigators tab. 

I have Chief investigator duties but I'm unable to see all of the investigations on ACMS, why is this?

In order to see all investigations in the Investigation admin, make sure that the toggle button in the top right hand corner is set to 'All' rather than 'Get Mine'. 

Can I upload files to investigations as evidence?

Yes, files can be uploaded in the evidence tab. If you are having trouble uploading a certain file type let your company admin know as AssessTech may need to enable it on ACMS. It's possible to upload most file types to ACMS.

Why can I only generate a 'Draft' investigation report?

Whilst an investigation is being completed ACMS generates 'Draft' reports. Once the DCP has reviewed and closed the investigation, a 'Final' investigation report can be generated.

Can different report formats be applied to incidents of differing severity?

Yes. We can modify investigation reports to ensure that they are appropriate for the severity of each incident. If report changes are required, we will work closely with the relevant people to meet these requirements.

Why do I not have the Incident and Investigation admins in my menu?

In order to have these admins you must have enabled investigator duties.

Can an incident be closed without investigation?

Yes, If a logged incident doesn't require an investigation then this can be closed without investigation via the incident admin. 

Is there an integration between ACMS and SMIS?

No, but we hope that an integration between the two systems will be able to be put in place going forward.