3494 Investigation insights: A toolkit for leaders and investigators

Overview:

The Stichting Tripod Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving how organisations learn from incidents. Together with researchers from Leiden University and the Open University, they have developed four practical tools to help improve the way leaders are engaged during and after incident investigations. The tools are aimed at:

• leaders who are overseeing or invested in the success of an incident investigation;
• incident investigators who need to engage leaders in the investigation, and afterwards communicate their
  findings to leaders, and
• project teams who are expected to implement changes following an incident.

The ultimate purpose of the tools is to help leaders get better insights into why incidents happen, and use this knowledge to lead to better learning outcomes. The tools do this by:

• helping leaders understand their role in the investigation process, and how to set up the investigation for success;
• helping incident investigators to engage leaders (and others involved in the investigation) during the investigation;
• providing a process for investigators and leaders to engage others (other leaders, other team members) in the findings of the investigation – helping them truly understand why the incident happened, and
• providing processes to help the organisation create and implement its own solutions to incidents – solutions that they support and are invested in seeing to completion.

This purchase contains all four tools in a single booklet:

Tool 1: A leader's role

This is guidance intended for senior leaders who want to ensure that the learning from incidents process runs smoothly. This tool focuses on a leader’s
role during and after an investigation. It presents an overview of three different skill sets which leaders need in order to support effective learning. It
provides psychological theory behind those skills, thought exercises and practical guidance on how to improve them. This tool is for those leaders
who want to learn how to communicate their safety vison, make progress and encourage open communication with the investigation team.

Tool 2: An investigator's role

Tool 2 contains information and theories designed to support learning following an incident, focusing on the human-centered skills needed to lead
real change. This tool is designed for incident investigators who want to know how to best communicate with leadership during incident
investigations. Through using this tool, investigators will learn about the three human-centred skill sets they may need during investigations and follow-ups to effectively engage with key stakeholders. The tool provides theory, practical exercises and guidance to set expectations with the leaders, avoid obstacles and biases that may influence investigations, as well as gain organisational buy-in.

Tool 3: Better insights workshop

Tool 3 is a facilitator guide for the Better insights workshop. This workshop is a way to engage senior leaders and others with the findings of an incident
investigation, gathering their input and buy-in for recommendations and next steps. Better insights is designed to be run in a small group, and encourages all participants to ‘slow down’ thinking, form their own ideas and actively engage in discussion. This short workshop has proven to be an efficient way to guide participants through the incident’s sequence of events, come up with recommendations and reflect on what they have learnt as individuals.

Tool 4: Better learning outcomes

Tool 4 contains a collection of exercises that can be used by project teams when implementing recommendations from an investigation. Research
has shown that many companies excel at conducting investigations and gaining insights into what changes would create a safer workplace. However, there is often little guidance on how to implement those changes. This tool provides a solution to this by introducing a four-step model of implementation
known as the PECE (prioritise, engage, change and evaluate) cycle and a collection of short exercises that can be conducted to aid each step in this
process.

Note: Alternatively, the four tools are also available for purchase separately (links below):

• Tool 1: A leader's role
• Tool 2: An investigator's role
• Tool 3: Better insights workshop
• Tool 4: Better learning outcomes