The stages of incident management

As is evident in many components of the EHS process, incident management can be broken down into multiple steps. This systematic approach is considered a life cycle, as it is apparent from the moment the incident appears to the instance it becomes resolved.

New

This state refers to the instance in which an incident is logged but not yet assigned. A professional should make a note of it immediately after they witness an injury or close call. When they wait too long, the incident may go unresolved and can create more issues.

In progress

After the accident has been assigned for review by a team or manager, it is considered “in progress.” During this step, individuals are beginning to investigate the root of the issue as well as any possible repercussions.

On hold

This stage does not occur every time a business undergoes the incident life cycle process. The individual or team assigned during the “in progress” step may need to reallocate the responsibility to another entity. Perhaps whoever was originally assigned to the task needs to gain additional information on how to handle an issue, or maybe they need evidence on ways this incident has impacted the business in the past.

When the requested person or team has responded to this request, they may reset the incident to denote that it is “in progress.” However, multiple parties may put the same activity on hold several times throughout the incident management life cycle if further instruction is required at any point.

Resolved

During this step, the incident is not completely fixed, but it is mitigated for a period of time in order to ensure there are no additional incidents caused by the same problem. There may be an instance in which an incident moves from “resolved” to “in progress” if it has been cast aside for too long and the threat of a similar incident occurring is a looming threat in the work space.

Closed

Once the team members working on a designated incident have eliminated the issue altogether, preventing further injuries or accidents from occurring in the long term, the incident is considered “closed.” Once it reaches this stage of the life cycle, it will no longer pose an issue to the organization. In addition, strategic businesses may use this stage of the life cycle to compile information they may need to proactively prevent similar accidents from occurring.