Incident Investigation Training
Build investigation capability with practical incident investigation training that helps organisations move beyond “what happened?” to understand why it happened, what can be learned, and how recurrences can be reduced.
Who's it for?
This page is for organisations that want to strengthen investigation capability across safety, operational, assurance and leadership teams. It is suitable for safety investigators, incident investigators, HSE professionals, operations managers, supervisors, risk managers, compliance and assurance personnel, and anyone responsible for investigating safety events.
Benefits
Stronger evidence collection, better interviews, clearer analysis of human and organisational factors, defensible findings, improved recommendations and more effective learning from incidents.
Find out more
Our team are happy to provide more information. Please click on the relevant button below to contact us.
Build investigation capability that supports better learning
When incidents occur, organisations need more than immediate answers. They need investigations that uncover what happened, why it happened, and how a recurrence can be prevented.
Our incident investigation training helps investigators, safety professionals and operational leaders develop a structured, practical and learning-focused approach to investigation. The training supports delegates from their initial response and data collection through analysis, findings, recommendations and reporting.
Rather than treating investigation as a compliance exercise, our approach focuses on building capability. We help organisations develop investigators who can ask better questions, gather stronger data, recognise human and organisational influences, and produce recommendations that support meaningful improvement.
Data collection
Equip investigators with practical techniques to gather, preserve and document relevant and useful information following events.
Data analysis
Move beyond symptoms to identify underlying human, organisational, technical and environmental factors. We do not specify one single analysis tool, but by default we use Accimaps.
Findings and recommendations
Develop clear, defensible findings and recommendations that support action, learning and improvement.
Investigation Essentials: the core programme
Investigation Essentials is our practical three-day incident investigation training course. It forms the core programme within The Keil Centre’s wider Investigator Development Pathway.
The course is centred around a real-life case study that builds throughout the three days. This allows delegates to practise the investigation process end to end, from initial planning and data collection through to structured analysis, report writing and action close-out.
Participants learn how to:
- Plan and manage a structured investigation
- Collect data from multiple sources
- Develop event timelines
- Recognise human and organisational influences
- Analyse data objectively
- Validate findings
- Develop recommendations that are clearly linked to data
- Produce clear investigation reports and presentations
- Support wider organisational learning
What the training covers
The course introduces key investigation topics and practical tools, including human error, Just Culture, investigator and witness bias, data analysis techniques, work as imagined versus work as done, and how to understand what actually happened on the day.
Day 1
- Introduction to human factors in incident investigation
- The investigator’s role
- Unconscious bias in investigations
- Collecting data
- Interview essentials
Day 2
- Analysing data and selecting the right tool
- Building timelines
- Understanding real work
- Understanding why events happened
- Validating findings
Day 3
- Linking outcomes, findings and recommendations
- Developing effective recommendations
- Producing investigation reports and presentations
- Action tracking and close-out
- Broader organisational learning
Investigation Essentials can be delivered as a standalone course, but it is also designed to sit within a wider pathway for organisations that want to build long-term investigation capability.
The pathway creates flexible entry points depending on the needs of the organisation, the experience of delegates and the level of internal capability required.
Investigator Development Pathway
- Foundation level: Human Factors Awareness
- Core investigator level: Investigation Essentials
- Enhancement modules: Investigative Interviewing, Human Factors for Investigators and Human Factors Analysis Tools
- Complete pathway: a comprehensive investigator development programme tailored to organisational needs
Why The Keil Centre?
The Keil Centre brings together human factors specialists, psychologists, ergonomists and experienced safety consultants. This means our investigation training goes beyond process alone and helps organisations understand the human, organisational and operational factors that influence behaviour and performance.
Our team has experience delivering investigation and cognitive interviewing training across high-risk industries. We also support organisations with human factors analysis, safety culture, managing human failure and wider organisational learning.
This integrated perspective helps organisations develop investigations that are practical, proportionate and defensible, while also supporting stronger safety culture and better learning from events.
Public and in-house delivery
We can provide incident investigation training as an in-house course for your organisation, or discuss options for public course attendance where available.
For in-house delivery, the course can be tailored to your organisation’s context, industry and investigation requirements. Delegates receive course materials and practical exercises to support learning during and after the training.
Our consultants support organisations across the UK, Australia and internationally. Depending on your needs, we can discuss in-house delivery, public course options, remote delivery, or consultant travel to other countries where appropriate.
For additional external guidance on investigation good practice, you may also find the HSE’s guidance on investigating accidents and incidents useful.
Ready to strengthen your investigation capability?
Contact The Keil Centre to discuss incident investigation training, in-house delivery, public course options, remote delivery or a tailored Investigator Development Pathway for your organisation.