Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

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8.6 
Internal systems for collecting 
and analysing incident data
Introduction
Managers need effective internal systems to know 
whether the organization is getting better or worse; to 
know what is happening and why; and to assess whether 
objectives are being achieved. Chapter 16 deals with 
monitoring generally, but here, the basic requirements 
of a collection and analysis system for incidents are 
discussed.
The incident report form (discussed earlier) is the 
basic starting point for any internal system. Each organ -
ization needs to lay down what the system involves and 
who is responsible to do each part of the procedure. 
This will involve:
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what type of incidents should be reported
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who completes the incident report form – normally 
the manager responsible for the investigation
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how copies should be circulated in the organization
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who is responsible to provide management meas-
urement data
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how the incident data should be analysed and at 
what intervals
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the arrangements to ensure that action is taken on 
the data provided.
The data should seek to answer the following questions:
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are failure incidents occurring, including injuries, ill-
health and other loss incidents?
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where are they occurring?
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what is the nature of the failures?
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how serious are they?
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what were the potential consequences?
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what are the reasons for the failures?
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how much has it cost?
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what improvements in controls and the management 
system are required?
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how do these issues vary with time?
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is the organization getting better or worse?